Something about those saiyjin genes
by Mmfox67
Summary: Gohan and Videl have split? How will this affect everyone who knows them? What relationships will change as a result? Chapter's have been censored for smut if you want smut visit Ao3 (archive of our own) under the same username
1. Chapter 1

_"I can't do this anymore Gohan. Pan is a grown up I am sure she will understand."_

Videls word's echoed in Gohans head as he sat on the bed they had once shared. He repetitively ran his thumb over the side of is wedding band, it was bumpy because it was engraved and a sort of soothing motion. Gohan had to learn some soothing practices over his life since he often allowed his emotions to control him. After a moment Gohan stopped stroking it and held the ring up to his face. Due to their how big of nerds they had been and a little bit of over excitement, their rings had been engraved with an homage to the Saiya Squad. _Saiya Squad Forever –G &V_

Where had that gone? Were they too quick to get married? Should they have waited? Gohan was not sure if his guilt in this was founded. People usually blamed themselves when they were getting divorced, but was he really at fault. Videl had called him many things during their last fight and currently he felt like all of them. Gohan frowned and rose from the bed that was no longer his. He then left the familiar room and headed outside to load boxes.

Bulla walked aimlessly down the familiar road that she had visited many times in her childhood. It was odd to think, but Bulla was sure she had much better memories in Satan City than that of her home West City. Today she was here because she was supposed to have dinner with her friend Pan. However her mother had a full day so instead of bringing her in the evening she had dropped her off around noon. So far she had managed to dawdle four hours away.

A short time passed and Bulla found herself at the end of the long driveway that led to where Pan still lived with her parents. Much to her surprise there was what appeared to be a moving van in the driveway. Walking around the side Bulla was met with a view of Pan's father. Son Gohan was a hulking mass compared to the males in her own family. Though they were usually hidden under a button up shirt, today Gohans muscles were being accentuated by a tight white tee shirt and he had on a pair of orange sweat pants. Strangely he was lacking his ever present glasses making his black eyes stand out more than any of the ones she had seen, much more than Pan or Gotens.

"Hey Gohan! What are you doing?" Bulla asked as she walked closer to him.

Gohan turned and smiled as a small blue haired young woman approached him. Bulla Breifs was clad in a black pair of skinny jeans and a white tee shirt. Her looks were very similar to that of her mothers, but they differed enough causing Bulla to be slightly more attractive than Bulma was in her prime, at least in Gohans opinion. She was not only the daughter of a close family friend, but she was also very good friends with his daughter Pan. It was because of this that Gohan was a little bit surprised that the girl was out of the loop. Gohan set down the box that he was holding as the girl came closer. Him and Videl had not been doing well for a while. He was sure it was his own fault, yet nothing he did made it any better. He had stopped training so that he could spend more time with their child and more time supporting their family. Instead of getting their own place he had been content to live with her father because that was what she wanted. And now here he was, loading boxes of useless books into the back of a moving van.

"Oh, uhm, well Videl kinda told me to get my stuff and get out." Gohan responded with shrug.

"Oh, really? I'm sorry to hear that." Bulla said taken aback. "Uh why do all those boxes say books?"

"The only thing I ever really bought were the books, the rest of the stuff Mr. Satan bought, so nothing is mine but the books." He responded sheepishly.

"Well, uhm want some help?" Bulla asked offering out her arms.

"Uh the boxes aren't exactly light." Gohan said examining the girls soft small frame.

"I think you forget that I am just as much a Saiyjin as you are!" She responded with a laugh before she picked one of the boxes up and placed it in the back of the van. "C'mon it will be faster with two of us, and the sooner you are done the sooner you can try to heal." Her words were a lot shrewder than he had expected for someone so young. Her eyes filled with a wisdom that he hadn't realized she was capable of. Gohan had known Bulla her whole life so he was comfortable around her and she him, but their relationship had always been rather shallow.

"You're right. Does this mean you're gonna help me load them up to my new place too?" He asked with a chuckle joking as he would with any of the people he considered friends.

"Sure!" Bulla said pleasantly. She had time to kill before the plans she had with Pan.

Bulla's friendly chatter made what Gohan had expected to be the longest day of his life, slightly less glum. It wasn't more than an hour before all of Gohan's belongings were loaded. Gohan was glad they had accomplished it, before she had arrived Gohan had spent a few hours trying to beg Videl to work it out, but she had left as a result, and then the other had arrived. Gohan had never actually spent time alone with her before, there had always been somebody else around demanding her attention. Before now he had never realized how charming she was, she was genuinely just kind. He was glad his daughter had a friend like her.

"Thanks for your help." Gohan said with a smile. "But I'm sure you came over to see Pan? And I don't think I should keep you from that."

"Huh? No Pan is fighting in a tournament today." She said kinda wishfully.

"Oh are you not going to watch?" Gohan asked surprised, more surprised that he had not known that information before now.

"Oh, Pan says I distract her, so I don't go. But everyone usually brings me videos and pictures!" Bulla responded cheerfully.

Distract? Gohan wondered what she meant by that. Perhaps it was the fact that Bulla was the daughter of the richest woman in the world, and very available according to the media. Bulla grabbed his arm and pulled on him.

"Come on! I wanna see your new place, but I have to meet up with Pan at 7 for dinner!" Bulla said intensely before letting him go and running over to the passenger side.

Gohan chuckled softly and closed the back of the van locking it securely closed. He then proceeded to get in the driver's seat. He turned the van off and left the Satan property for what he hoped would be the last time, however he much doubted it. The whole time he was driving Bulla was making cheerful conversation, despite his new place being on the other side of town, the trip seemed to draw to an end almost too quickly.

"Hey stop there and let's get ice cream!" Bulla exclaimed grabbing Gohan's leg and pointing towards a café that was across from his new apartment complex.

"O-ok?" Gohan said with a chuckle before he unbuckled his seat belt and exited the vehicle.

When they entered the Café Gohan was not at all shocked as to the interior, of course this girl would find a place like this. The walls were white and decorated with pink dots, the floor was mostly fussy white and pink carpet, and the tables were covered in white lace table cloths.

"You know most girls outgrow this stuff at like 5." Gohan told her snidely.

"No, not most girls, just Pan." She shot back.

"All right, but you are like what, 21?" Gohan responded with a shrug.

"Aw but it's so cute! Don't be such a grumpy old man Gohan." She said playfully before sitting at a secluded corner table. Gohan groaned at the old joke and ran a hand through his salt and pepper hair. She was right he was getting old, so why was he hanging out in a cosplay café with a 21 year old?

The staff instantly recognized her as if she were a regular and he began to become more and more suspicious that she knew exactly where they were. He sat back and let her order for both of them. Mainly because he was afraid to order something wrong. He did however ask for water because he was sure he would need it.

"So, I take it you come here a lot?" Gohan asked sipping his water attempting to make conversation as they waited for their ice cream. He honestly didn't know where to start. He had known Bulla since she was born so he knew a lot about her as far as her family and what she was like as a kid, but the adult Bulla was pretty much a mystery to him.

"Yeah." Bulla said with a soft smile. "I usually have quite a bit of free time when I come to town, and I really like food."

"Hey it's ok, I like food too." Gohan said laughing because she seemed embarrassed.

"It must be hereditary." Bulla responded. Gohan was ashamed to think it but he was honestly surprised she knew that word. But then most people would be surprised to know her mother was the smartest woman in the world.

"You know, I am positive that is what it is."

It wasn't long before two large sundaes were in front of them; one drizzled in strawberry syrup and topped with chunks of dark and white chocolate as well as strawberries and pineapple. The other was similar only instead of fruit it featured chocolate and caramel chunks as well as chocolate drizzle.

Within minutes the two half-Saiyjin adults had devoured the ice cream. Gohan decided that the ice cream had been worth the pink overload. Bulla paid the tab insisting that it must be her treat since it would really be Bulmas treat, then they headed back across the road to unload the vehicle.

"So what are you going to sleep on?" Bulla asked as she stood next to him with two boxes in her arms.

"Probably the floor." He said gloomily setting a box down and pulling out his keys, they were at the front door to his second floor apartment. Gohan cursed the fact that his door was inside, if it had been outside he could have just flown everything up. Gohan unlocked and opened the door.

Bulla entered first and set her boxes down. She then flipped on the switch and examined the room. It was a fair sized living room with wood floors and a rug in the middle.

"It looks like they left it at least partially furnished." Bulla said as she noticed a recliner in the corner.

Bulla headed back downstairs to grab more boxes. She stopped to look at the time. It was around 4, Pan would be done with the first round of the tournament by now, she wondered how the other was doing. Pan was strikingly similar to her father in many ways not only looks but personality as well. It was likely because piccolo had played such a large part in their formative years. How similar were they though? Bulla didn't know until today that Gohan and Videl were having problems. Did they hide them well? Or had Pan kept this information from her? Was Pan also keeping things a secret from her parents? Bulla shook her head, no she had to have more trust in the other girl, after all trust was the only thing that made a relationship work. _Wait, remember she just wants it to be casual._ That is what Pan had said, she didn't want things to be serious, it would interfere with her training.

Bulla shook the thoughts away and loaded up with more boxes. Within minutes they managed to have the boxes inside, joking that it must be a sugar rush from the ice cream. After setting the boxes around the living room Bulla went down the narrow hallway to the mid-sized bedroom. The thing that surprised her was that there appeared to be three closets in the room. Bull laughed softly and opened the nearest closet. "Oh and there is a futon in here. Looks like you are all set to live in mid-life crisis mode." She joked cheerfully.

Gohan laughed but became more aware that he was in fact a lot older than the other. She was younger than his daughter. _But she's so damn attractive._ Gohan shook the thought away, surprised that he had even had it, but it caused his attention to drift to her body. Her tight pants made every curve of her body evident, and her white shirt was a lot more see through than he had originally realized. This brought to attention the fact that she was not wearing a bra. Her blush colored nipples were obvious through the fabric if you looked, and damn him to hell but Gohan looked. He looked away almost as fast though.

It was this that caused Bulla to notice his odd behavior. Their eyes met for a split second and the tension rose, but for some reason Bulla did not want him to look away. She bit her bottom lip nervously and noticed that he had done the same. Was he feeling the same tension she was? Was he thinking the same way she was? _Will his kisses taste better than Pans?_ The last question shocked her, but not in an unpleasant way. _What's more casual than having sex with her father?_ A devilish part of Bulla wondered. It was obvious Gohan was not having the most pure thoughts either. His breathing had picked up and so had his heartbeat.

"Hey lets lay this futon out! That way you can arrange the room around it!" Bulla said playfully before pulling the futon out of the closet. Gohan moved to help her, but then remembered what she had said about being just as much a saiyjin as him. The futon wasn't heavy so Bulla laid it out on the ground and smiled. "Ok so where do you wanna sleep?" Bulla asked turning and smiling at him.

"Right here." Gohan said before collapsing face first on to the futon causing Bulla to break out in giggles. "Ok it wasn't that funny." Gohan rolled over and looked up at the girl. He was in the perfect position to see all of her curves, even the better hidden ones. Gohan couldn't help but enjoy the view just a little bit.

"Hey Gohan?" Bulla said softly.

"Hmm?" Gohan asked back his attention snapping to her face, though her attention seemed to be focused elsewhere.

"You do remember that you are wearing sweat pants right?" She asked him with a smug grin. Gohan then had the awareness to follow her gaze.

"Shit!" He shouted sitting up and trying to hide what was now growing out of his pants. "God I'm sorry I really didn't mean anything by that. God." Gohan was embarrassed, and very much ashamed. This girl was younger than his daughter and the thoughts he had been having about her, they were wrong.

"Oh, no, I-I didn't think you did." Bulla said with a smile and a blush of her own. Dare she admit to him that she was flattered? Bulla was used to men looking at her by now, it was one of the reasons she had decided to focus her attention on Pan instead of on a man, yet when she had noticed Gohans gaze it had made her skin hot. She enjoyed his attention instead of it making her want to tear her skin off. Her words made Gohan stop aggressively looking for cover. His eyes met hers and it was almost as if she was assuring him that she didn't feel uncomfortable. Gohan let out an uncomfortable sigh.

"I'm sorry, I'm twenty three years older than you, I really shouldn't be treating you like this." Gohan said softly running his hand through his spiky hair.

"Why not?" She asked seeming to get offended. "I'm an adult, it's not like I'm a child or a teenager, in what world is it inappropriate for a man to find a woman attractive."

"W-what?" Gohan asked taken aback. He then laughed. "I guess I should expect nothing less considering who your parents are."

"They are pretty great huh?" Bulla asked with a grin.

But that still left Gohan curious, was she welcoming his advances, or just stating her beliefs on the matter of age when it came to sexual attraction. The longer the silence lasted the more Gohan hungered for the answer. This 21 year old girl was making him feel like he was 21 all over again. He tried not to be abrasive though, the last thing he wanted was to make her uncomfortable.

"So?" She asked expectantly breaking the silence.

"So?" Gohan asked in return raising an eyebrow.

"Considering who your parents are, how do you feel about it?" She asked sitting very close to him on the futon.

Gohans breathing grew more shallow as the other drew near. He couldn't really help it though, she had gone from being fairly docile to straight up aggressive. There was nothing saiyjins found more attractive that sexual aggression. Neither of them felt these feeling were wrong, but were they correct in that? How should he feel about this? How should he be reacting to her advances? Was he supposed to sit her down and deny her, treat her like a child? Or should he take advantage of their current situation? Take advantage, that was the answer he needed, it could just be an in the moment thing, he was grieving his marriage, and Bulla didn't seem to be entirely connected with the situation.

"Honestly." Gohan replied quietly meeting her gaze. "I don't know how I feel about anything right now. I'm kind of numb. The only relationship I have had my entire life, is gone. I haven't been alone, not since I met her. I don't know how I feel; I'm trying not to feel, because I'm sure it will be pain. And as I'm sure you know being a saiyjin, pain translates into anger." Gohans words grew more melancholy as he spoke and the pain in his black eyes grew.

Bulla was surprised with how honest Gohan was being with her. But she understood what he meant. Nothing was going to happen between them, not as long as he was still mourning his marriage. She smiled and bumped her shoulder into his.

"Well, wanna take me to meet Pan?" Bulla asked grinning.

"Oh jesus is it that time already?" Gohan stood up. "Sure thing I have to return the van any way!" Gohan responded with a smile.

Pan paced back and forth in front of her house holding her cell phone in a clenched fist. Where the hell was Bulla, why did that girl have to be late to everything?

"Didn't I teach you to be more patient than this? Don't let your anger get the best of you or you will do things you will regret." Piccolo spoke as he walked out of the door that led into her house.

"I'm trying, but she just infuriates me so much!" Pan said aggressively to her teacher. Piccolo crossed his arms and gave her a disapproving look. Pan sighed. "I'm sorry Mr. Piccolo, I just don't get it, she makes me so mad and gets me so mixed up inside, I don't know how to handle it."

"If you only like her when you are around her, then maybe you shouldn't have this kind of relationship." Piccolo responded.

"W-we don't have a relationship!" Pan shot back anxiously. "It's casual, we…we're casual."

"Mhm." Piccolo responded causing Pan to look away nervously.

"What does that even mean?" A sad, almost melodic voice rang out.

Neither of them had noticed Bulla and Gohan approach, and both were very surprised at the odd paring. Gohan looked very surprised as well, and Pan knew exactly why. She had kept the true nature of her relationship with Bulla Briefs a secret. Why? That girl was surrounded by too many people hitting on her all the time, Pan was sure a few of them had been given their way, the last thing she wanted to do was put her heart all the way into it and get it broken, but now all of that was blown cuz for some reason her dad was here too. Pan clenched her fists and grit her teeth. It was like they were all boxing her in. She hated this feeling, she was too used to this feeling. Pan located the source of her anger. Bulla. Standing there looking innocent and wounded. Pan knew neither of those things were true.

"Is this really the time for that?" Pan asked the other angrily putting her hands on her slender hips. Pan was clad in a very tight purple gi that showed every curve of her body, not that there were many. Pan was fairly slender like her mother, but she was also pretty flat, her physique almost boyish. She looked more similar to her father than her mother when dressed like this. Her hair was cropped short so that she did not have to wear it up and risk it getting in the way. On a normal day it was down but on tournament days she spiked it with gel and it ended up looking very akin to Gohans hair.

"Yes." Bulla shot back coldly putting her hands in her pockets and kicking a little bit of the dirt.

Pan frowned, it would help if Bulla didn't look like a walking day dream right now in her tight pants and almost see through shirt. The look on Bullas face made it clear that she was putting her on the spot, it was a now or never type of thing. Pan bit her lip. She hated being put on the spot and Bulla knew that better than anyone.

"Well then how about you fuck off." Pan said calmly before turning around and heading inside. But she was anything but calm inside, she had heard her father react but she honestly didn't care she just slammed the door behind herself.

"You deserved that." Piccolo said coldly to Bulla. He was none too fond of the girl, but that was likely his bias concerning his student. Bulla didn't respond only nodded. Gohan looked from Piccolo to Bulla. What was he missing?

"I'm confused." Gohan said pointedly at Piccolo.

"I don't really know what's going on either." Piccolo responded before both of them turned to look directly at Bulla.

"Hey don't you remember, this all started cuz I asked what was going on." Bulla said throwing her hands up.

"What did she mean by you guys are 'casual'?" Gohan asked a little too anxiously.

"Ah." Bulla said with a nervous laugh. "Do you really want to know about your daughter's sex life?"

"No." Gohan responded quickly. He had to keep himself from adding that he wanted to know about her sex life. But the look he got when her eyes met his made it clear she had heard what he hadn't said.

At this point Piccolo abandoned the conversation and headed inside. It was obvious now that Pan was gone he had little concern for the pair outside. Bulla pulled out her phone to call her mother to come get her.

"Shiiit…." Bulla said as she walked away from the house, Gohan followed since he was sure he was no longer welcome inside that house.

"What?" Gohan asked as he looked towards the end of the driveway, trying to not think about the family he was no longer a part of.

"My mom was supposed to come get me, but she can't, she expects me to stay the night with Pan." Bulla said softly.

"Why don't you just fly home?" Gohan asked confused.

"I-I don't know how, nobody ever felt like it was something I needed to know." Bulla said shoving her phone in her pocket. "But the Galick Gun…that's necessary for survival yo."

"Wait you mean to tell me that you know how to use your energy to attack, but you don't know how to use it to lift you off the ground?" Gohan said more than a little shocked.

"Well when you put it like that," Bulla said throwing her arms up, "Sounds like something I can figure out. Nobody even bothered to tell me that much."

"Have you ever bothered to ask?" Gohan asked softly as they walked off of the Satan property.  
"I mean, I guess not." She responded with a shrug.

"If you are interested in something, you have to express it or you will never learn. If you don't tell people, they won't know." Gohan shrugged.

"Yeah yeah I know you're right." Bulla said softly. "But what if they make fun of me for the things I like?"

"Not everybody is gonna like you, some people are going to find something wrong no matter how perfect you try to be, so whats the point in being anything but yourself?"

"I guess you're right, it's just kinda difficult not to care."

"Yeah, well that's all part of the learning process. Pain, a lot of pain." It was obvious with that statement Gohan was thinking about the things he cared too much about

"Oh I'll call Trunks!" Bulla said excited trying to get Gohans mind off of what was making him sad. It didn't seem to work.

At this point they had made it to a park near the property, a landmark she could have her brother pick her up at. Bulla pulled out her phone and called Trunks. Their conversation was short, it always was they weren't very close, but he agreed to come get her.

"Cool he will be here soon." Bulla said smiling and sitting down in the grass.

"Maybe you can ask him to teach you to fly." Gohan joked sitting extremely close to her.

"Eh he probably has better things to do." Bulla said blandly.

"Like Goten?" Gohan shot back.

"Oh, wow, that was…unexpected." Bulla said trying to hold back a laugh.

"Why because it's true?" Gohan asked laughing himself.

"Yeah." Bulla said finally cracking and bursting into giggles. Goten and Trunks were a thing that the two tried so hard to hide. Tried being the key word. They failed miserably and everyone was aware. They had even gone to the extent of renting a two bedroom so that they could claim to be roommates.

Laughter, Gohan couldn't really get over it. It had been a long time since he had enjoyed somebodies company so much. Perhaps it was so intense because of the recent split from his wife, or perhaps he genuinely enjoyed her company. Regardless he had not laughed this much since he had first starting dating Videl. Perhaps this was a sort of rebound and that was why he was feeling so nostalgic.

"Are you still teaching?" Bulla asked after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah I actually work at one of the higher education establishments in town." Gohan said smiling. He was surprised that she knew what he did, half the time Pan forgot he was a teacher.

"Ah."

"Why?" Gohan was curious about her response which led to curiosity about her question.

Instead of responding Bulla just leaned in close and bit him firmly on the neck. Gohan let out a small shout but it transformed into a moan. What the hell? This small woman had him all mixed up inside. Why was she doing this to him? He wanted to know, but he couldn't seem to focus on anything but her lips, tongue and teeth as they assaulted a small portion of his neck. She pulled away what felt like too quickly and unconsciously Gohan tried to stop her.

"Trunks is almost here, or trust me I wouldn't have stopped." Bulla said softly stopping Gohan in his tracks. Gohan nodded, he understood. This wasn't something that anyone else needed to know about, the wasn't even something yet and it might never be. Gohan had a lot to figure out.

"Hey, I'm gonna come by sometime this week and we are gonna re-arrange that mess of yours." Bulla said causing Gohan to focus back on her. Bulla was now standing facing away from him.

"Yeah ok." Gohan said even though he still hadn't quite grasped what she had said. He was still kind of lost in the mark she had left on his neck. Bulla smiled and said goodbye, she headed across the grass and made it to the road right as Trunks pulled in.

Bulla quickly got in the passanger side of the car. Usually she sat in the back, but for some reason Goten was not with her brother today.

"Hey where's your boyfriend?" Bulla asked as they pulled away from the curb.

"He has to work ea…..Goten isn't my boyfriend!" Trunks adamantly denied.

"You're a liar." Bulla shot back.

"And you're a brat." Trunks growled.

"See even that, everything you say is a lie." She teased.

Trunks groaned. "Will you just stop."

"Will you teach me to fly?" Bulla asked quickly.

"S-seriously?" Trunks asked shocked. "You don't know how to fly?"

"Did you really think I would call you for a ride if I knew how to fly?" Bulla asked, sure her and her brother weren't close, but did he really think she was that entitled.

"I didn't think that far, I just…it never occurred to me that you didn't know." Trunks said softly.

"So?" Bulla asked.

"I mean, yeah I don't see why not. Shouldn't be too hard I mean we are the best saiyjins out there after all." Trunks teased pretending to be their father.

"I mean, there's not a lot of us." Bulla chuckled softly and relaxed back in her seat.

"Yeah, but imagine having black hair, that has to be the worst." Trunks said with a laugh of his own.

Bulla rolled her eyes and insulted him and Trunks responded with more laughter.

"Hey are you gonna teach me to fly today?" Bulla approached Trunks as soon as he stepped foot on the compound.

"Well I mean why else would I be here?" Trunks asked sarcastically.

"Maybe because your mom lives here and your dad lives here and most of your belongings are here." Bulla said with a smug shrug.

"If you don't shut up I'm going to leave." Trunks said coldly.

"No. No wait… I'll shut up." Bulla said waving her hands in his face as if to signal surrender.

"Wow usually you can't wait for me to leave." Trunks laughed and punched her shoulder playfully.

"Yeah but, uhm, I mean like today you are doing something for me." Bulla smiled and rubbed her arm pretending he had hurt her.

"Yeah whatever, it shouldn't take long and I have to get to work." Trunks said waving for her to follow him as he headed outside.

"What you didn't even take time off to spend time with your dear sister." She said as if she were offended even though she followed closely behind him.

Trunks rolled his eyes at her acting, not that he wasn't amused, he was just sure it would not take her very long to figure this out. Before much time had passed they were in the middle of a tennis court located behind capsule corps.

"Ok so you know how to use your energy right?" Bulla nodded in response to her brothers question. "Ok so focus that energy on your body and imagine it pushing you up from the ground."

"R-really? That's all?" Bulla asked surprised.

"Yeah it's not fucking hard." Trunks said with a chuckle.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

The voice made Bulla jump and then let out a rather annoyed growl. She turned to see her father approaching. It was almost as if he had nothing to do in his old age but bother her. He didn't want her to move out so she stayed at home, but more often than not he was complaining about how she wasn't making her Saiyjin heritage proud and how she should be more like the Pan girl. But he refused to teach her anything. When she was younger he had acted like she was breakable and followed her around as such, and even now he treated her like she was a teenager.

"I'm going over to a friend's house." Bulla responded as she clipped on a pair of black sandals to complete her black tank top and black and white capris as an outfit.

"Yeah, a friend, I'm sure which friend is it?" Vegeta responded crossing his arms.

"We've been through this dad, you don't ask about it and I don't talk about it, and we both pretend it doesn't happen." Bulla said with a smile. Vegeta rolled his eyes. Vegeta was controlling, and men had shown interest in her at a very young age. So they had sat down and spoke about this long before she was even interested in sex. She respected her parents, so she did not do those things in their house. Her parents respected her so they didn't ask her about it just asked her to be safe. Or at least that was what her mother did, her father just stomped around grumbling any time he thought she was leaving to go meet a guy. Bulla thought it was ironic considering, up until recently she had been pretty gay.

"Who's taking you?" He asked trying to figure out a way for him to be able to say no to this.

"Myself, Trunks taught me how to fly and I'm just going to Satan City." Bulla said before throwing a backpack over her shoulder. She then gave him a hug and quickly left the house.

Bulla let out a relieved sigh. She really needed to get a place of her own. But for now she was focused on helping Gohan get his new apartment in order. She had worked very hard for her mother the last week in order to gain access to her mother's credit card. Usually she just had to do a few chores but her mother had been in a bad mood so she had to run a ton of errands all week. It had also been a week since she last was in Satan City. That meant that it had been week since she had chosen to help Gohan move and came on to him extremely hard, a week since her fight with Pan.

Pan, what would she think if she knew what Bulla was planning? Why did Bulla care so much. They hadn't been doing this long. When they were in high school they had experimented together, but it wasn't until earlier in the year that they actually began to function a little as a couple. As Bulla walked to the edge of her property she felt her phone vibrate.

 _Can you come by today? –P_

 _Yeah. 4 work? –B_

 _I'll be training, 5?-P_

 _k-B_

Bulla put her phone away and took off from the ground heading to Satan City.

Gohan woke to a loud knock on his front door. Groaning he rolled over and checked the clock next to his bed, it was 1p.m. why the hell was he still asleep? Gohan stood up and stretched before rubbing his forehead. It was extremely hot in his little apartment and all he had was a fan. Gohan groggily staggered to his front door and opened it.

"Well that's not a bad sight to see early in the morning." Gohan frowned as the blue haired girl grinned at him. "You're pretty much naked."

Gohan looked down at himself shocked. "I still have my boxers on, besides it's my house, what do you want any way."

"I brought you some bookshelves!" Bulla responded following him inside. With a few large boxes in her arms. It was obvious they weighed more than her but she carried them with ease.

"Why?" Gohan asked rubbing his head.

"Cus your place is a mess." Bulla responded sounding almost offended.

"Why do you care? You don't have to live here. Speaking of which how did you even get here?" Gohan rolled his eyes and put his shirt on. Neither his wife, well ex-wife according to the papers he had signed the afternoon before, nor his daughter were like this. They didn't really care about his messes, why did she?

Bulla smiled and set the boxes down before drawing a little bit closer to him. Why was his heart beating so quickly so suddenly? Something about this girl made Gohan's body react as soon as she walked in the room. Gohan wanted to pull her closer but he resisted the urge. It was wrong for him to pursue a girl so much younger than himself.

"I dunno, I wanna hang out here more often." Bulla said making it clear that she was very aware of what she was doing to him. "And I did what you suggested and asked Trunks to teach me how to fly."

"Fine. Lets put some bookshelves together." He said breathlessly. The excitement in her eyes as she spoke about her flying lessons took Gohan off guard it made him think back to training Videl how to fly, but he smiled regardless. "Nice job on the flying."

Gohan sighed and looked around the room he supposed that he could line the bookshelves against the wall. But he couldn't keep his eyes away from Bulla long, within seconds they found her again. Bulla was leaning down to open one of the boxes and he noticed a red sticking out from her black pants.

They spent the better part of an hour putting the bookshelves together. Gohan had put on a pair of gray sweatpants and a white tanktop that looked just a little too tight. Unfortunately it seemed to keep Bulla from focusing on the task at hand. Instead she spent most of the time spouting off extremely corny, extremely inappropriate sexual innuendos that somehow had to do with putting the bookshelves together.

"I hope that board isn't the only thing that's gonna get nailed today." Bulla said jokingly as Gohan was finishing the last of the four she had brought.

Gohan didn't respond, he merely set the hammer down and began to line the bookshelves with books. Bulla chuckled and began to help him making sure to brush against him every chance she got. Perhaps she had daddy issues because of how controlling her father was? Or maybe she just found older men attractive, either was she was really interested in Son Gohan. They made quick work of filling the bookshelves, but they still needed more.

"Geeze that was a lot of work, I'm hungry." Bulla complained grabbing her stomach.

"Of course you are." Gohan responded with a laugh. "Saiyjins are always hungry."

"You right." Bulla said winking at Gohan. "You should feed me."

"What do I get in return?" Gohan teased unable to stop himself.

"I'll stay a little longer and we can play a game." Bulla said winking at him.

"Oh yeah? What game?" Gohan asked chuckling as he walked to his small fridge.

"Maybe a card game." Bulla said taking a seat on his couch.

"Uh so I have Ramen, or Ramen." Gohan said laughing softly.

"Ramen sounds great." Bulla replied with a giggle. "Wanna play a card came or a dice game?" Bulla asked grabbing her small bag off the ground and opening it.

"Uh…card." Gohan said hesitantly, afraid of what kind of dice game she had come with.

"Fine, play it safe." Bulla said jokingly pulling her cards out and setting the table up for poker.

"Yeah better safe than sorry." Gohan said nervously as he prepared the ramen.

"Ok so what do you want the rules to be?" Bulla asked as he brought the bowls over to the table.

"House rules, suits have to match." Gohan responded as he sat next to her and placed their bowls on the coffee table. The cards sat between them on the couch.

"Game ends when one of us is in our underwear?" Bulla said raising an eyebrow. Gohan smiled and nodded and the game began.

The first move saw Gohan losing his shirt and the ramen being ready so they paused to eat. Many times Gohan questioned if his behavior was wrong, but the other seemed to have unprecedented interest in him and he couldn't resist the desire to bask in the limelight at least for a while. The second saw him losing his socks and a few cocky retorts from Bulla.

The tide quickly changed however had within a few plays Bulla was down to her sandals and her underwear.

"Well, what now?" Bulla asked softly as she gathered up the cards. "Looks like you won. Now like a sexy genie I will grant you one wish!" She declared winking at him.

"Oh." Gohan said slightly surprised but he still was incredibly interested. "Are there any rules?"

"Hmm, no I don't think so." Bulla said playfully.

"I think I will hold off until a later date." Gohan responded standing up. "Hey but take your shoes off and come look how I arranged the room."

Bulla followed Gohan to his room and looked around. He had weights in the corner, he must be doing minor training. And his futon was laid out but pushed up against the wall.

"I mean it looks ok." Bulla said before turning around and grabbing Gohan's waistband. "It would look better with you naked on the futon."

Gohan raised his eyebrow as she took her sandals off and looked at him with those blue eyes. It was extraordinary to him how bright they were, he had never been faced with such a seductive look from eyes like hers. It made him weak and he only refocused when she shoved him to the futon and climbed on top of him.

"Are you sure this is ok?" Gohan asked with baited breath as he examined her soft body as she perched over him.

"Obviously, I'm the one on top." The girl said with a chuckle. Girl. Was that why he was hesitating? Because when he looked at her he couldn't help but remember that she was younger than his daughter. As if reading his mind she leaned closer to him and asked, "Are _you_ sure this is ok?"

"Yeah." Gohan responded breathlessly. He was past the point of resisting. He had never been with anybody but Videl, he had never really wanted to be, until now, until Bulla.

Gohan couldn't stop looking at her. Her skin was soft, almost abnormally so. She had gotten her youth from both parents so naturally she looked ethereal. Her hair hid one of her blue eyes, but that was pretty much the only part of her body that was hidden. She had on a red bra that looked a little too small, or maybe it was designed that way, and a matching red attempt at underwear. This hadn't been planned, at least not by him, and the very idea that these were what she wore under her clothes regularly drove him insane. His body reacted to the thought, and she reacted to his body with a soft moan.

"Maybe you should take some more clothes off then." Bulla responded rubbing herself against him, the only real barrier being his pants and boxers.

"I'm sorry." Gohan said breathlessly. "But this is where the game ended, you'll have to make me."

"Oh I can do that." Bulla said seductively before completely getting off of him.

"W-where are you going?" Gohan asked sitting all the way up.

"Home if you don't stop me." She said putting back on the black sandals she had been wearing when she arrived.

"Fuuuck." Gohan said shooting up into a standing position. "No you're not going anywhere."

As Gohan said this he grabbed her and shoved her against the wall, causing her to hit with a loud thud. There had been a few occasions when he had gotten too rough with Videl and hurt her, so when he heard the collision momentarily he was afraid. It was not pain that displayed on Bulla's face though, it was excitement, pleasure. She was a half Saiyjin just like Gohan, he didn't have to be soft he could just be. The new revelation excited him. Gohan decided to use this new knowledge to his advantage, he moved his hand into her hair and roughly pulled it back erecting a moan from her lips, it was obvious she was enjoying herself. Gohan moved his lips to her exposed neck and bit her leaving a bright red bruise, she still bruised like a human, much like himself. Gohan then began to bite more of her exposed skin, leaving marks from her neck to her stomach to the small of her back.

Bulla's legs were shaking and it was becoming difficult to support herself. Every time Gohan bit her she became less and less stable. Bulla felt his large hands move up her thighs, the bite he planted on her inner thigh was the one that did her in. Gohan caught her as her knees buckled and laid her down on the futon. Bulla was sprawled out like a piece of art for him to examine, and examine is what he intended to do. He planned to see touch and taste every part of her. And he planned to start below. His bite marks seemed to lead a path.

"Take your pants off!" Bulla shouted. Gohan laughed but didn't argue as he shed his pants very quickly. "See I win."

"Oh, shoot, looks like I'm gonna have to get you back for that Trickery." Gohan joked.

Before Bulla could respond Gohan was between her thighs, taking turns leaving marks on each one. He grew closer and closer. Bulla was really happy with her choice of underwear, and Gohan did not seem displeased. It was easy for him, instead of actually struggling with them Gohan just moved the tiny strip of red fabric out of the way and bit one of her lips. Bulla let out a soft yelp that turned into a moan as soon as the bite was accompanied by Gohans fingers playing with her. Bulla had of course done things akin to this with Pan, but it was nothing compared to how Gohan was making her feel. He definitely knew how to do it better.

Gohan smiled as he felt her tightening around his fingers. He had not had sex with Videl in a couple years so just touching a womans body drove him insane, not to mention the noises she was making. He had never been able to illicit this type of reaction from Videl. The pleasure she was displaying made it much more intense for Gohan. How had he gone fourty four years without this kind of pleasure? Gohan removed his fingers and began to nibble his way up her body. Gohan left more bruises making a trail along her going up.

Unexpectedly Gohan found himself on his back with her on top of him again, however this time the only thing between them were his boxers but his erection was straining against the opening attempting to make its way out. Bulla helped it by reaching her fingers and undoing the button that held the flap on his boxers closed. Gohans large erection was released from his boxers and Gohan let out a groan. Bulla smiled and took it in her hand.

"I wonder if it's a Saiyjin thing." Bulla said softly.

"Ask Trunks he's seen more saiyjin dick than me." Gohan said before letting out a moan at the feeling of her grasping him.

Bulla smiled and mimicked him by kissing down his chest. She even left bruises of her own, however the ones she left on him were much darker than the ones he left on her. Each time she bit him it was like an earthquake of pleasure with thousands of tiny aftershocks shaking his body. When her fingers brushed against him it was like he had never been touched before. Every place their skin touched it felt as though Gohan resonated with electricity.

Bulla began to tease his erection with her lips and teeth. Gohan could feel every point of contact she made and it was driving him insane. Between her teasing and the noises she was making as she did so his patience had worn thin. Gohan grabbed Bulla's hips and forced her on top of him. Gohan felt her softly give way to him the first few inches, but he met resistance. Without thinking Gohan pushed through it.

"Ow." Bulla shouted her body going rigid.

"Shit. I'm sorry." Gohan said looking up at her, he was too afraid to move her for fear of hurting her more.

"I-it's ok you didn't know." Bulla responded breathlessly. She wasn't really surprised that he had not expected her to still have that intact. She had never actually had sex with a guy only Pan and they never went that deep.

"Y-you can stop if you want." Gohan said softly trying not to pressure her. In that moment he became increasingly aware of their age gap, she had still been a virgin.

"I don't." Bulla responded softly having caught her breath at this point.

"Well, then keep going." Gohan teased as he ran his hands up her small thighs and wrapped them around her hips.

After a moment Bulla began to move and every motion she made caused him to moan. The rhythm of her rising and falling was seductive all on its own and every time she moved it brought him closer and closer to the edge. He could feel her giving way to him each time she lowered herself. He should have expected her to be this tight, she was so small and muscular. That was something Gohan had not noticed before. Her skin was soft, and more often than not she looked like a doll, but here in front of him with her clothes off he noticed exactly how strong she was. Bulla had a six pack and her body, much like her fathers, was filled with lean muscle that only seemed to make an appearance when she used them. He was surprised and enchanted by her durability. It was nice to not have to worry about hurting his partner. It added a different level of intimacy, and it was probably a good thing because he didn't have the focus to restrain himself. He wasn't sure if it was the time he had been without sex, or Bulla herself but he didn't last. A few more quick pumps and Gohan buried his fingers deeper in her hips holding her down on top of him. Bulla tightened around him at the same time letting out a loud moan as they climaxed in unison.

"Fuck." Bulla cursed quickly standing up wobbling a little bit before running to the bathroom. She had forgotten in the moment to have the other wear a condom so once in the restroom she went about trying to clean herself.

"Hey your phone is ringing." Gohan shouted from the room.

"Answer it and ask them to hold." Bulla shouted back before finishing up and heading back to the room.

When she re-entered the room Gohan was sitting up on the futon holding her phone. He was still wearing his boxers but they were covered in moisture from both of them. It was an image Bulla didn't think she would forget. He was very defined and just plain attractive. At least to her. Maybe it was because he was a Saiyjin. Bulla attempted to take her phone from him only for him to jerk it out of her reach.

"Fucker." She said before lunging forward and grabbing it. "Hello?" Bulla answered irritated, mostly at Gohan.

"Hey, I just wanted to let you know we concluded training early today. You can come over whenever you want, that is if you aren't too busy." The voice on the other end of the line was Pan's and Bulla cringed. She sure hoped that Pan had not recognized her father answering the phone.

"Yeah ok, I will be over in just a few minutes." Bulla responded before hanging up the phone.

"Pan?" Gohan asked. There was an anxious edge to his voice, Bulla wasn't sure what the exact reason was, but it was triggered by Pan calling.

"Yeah." Bulla responded as she grabbed her bag and put on clean clothes that she had packed at the bottom. A pair of blue shorts and a pink tank-top now hugged her body, but she had forgotten clean underwear so she simply adjusted her current ones.

"Are you two dating?" Gohan asked revealing the source of his discomfort.

"No." Bulla said quietly. "Pan said she was too busy with her career to focus energy on a relationship. So it _was_ casual."

Gohan nodded. Avoidance was a bad trait he was sure Pan had gotten from both of her parents. Perhaps if they had both been putting in effort to make it work his marriage would have lasted. But instead they had both avoided their problems until they were too big to work out. That was the only relationship she had been around so naturally she would fear commitment.

"I have to go." She said turning to smile at Gohan who simply waved for her to go about her day as he collapsed back on to his futon obviously worn from the recent activities.

Gohan watched her leave his room with a grin. He wasn't purposely trying to make things harder for her, but as she walked away Gohan could see one of the mark he had left on her thigh just barely below her shorts on her right leg. He heard the front door shut and decided that he was too worn out to do anything else so he closed his eyes to take a nap.

 _!Beep!_ Gohan's phone rang shrilly in his ear from inside of his sweatpants that had somehow ended up on the futon. Gohan quickly grabbed it out and answered.  
"Hello?" He said annoyed into it. Gohan was more than a little surprised to hear his daughter respond. Gohan was excited at first but then began to worry if she could tell that he had been the one to answer Bulla's phone minutes before. But that all left his mind when he fully processed her question. "Yea. Tonight? Sure. When and where? Oh ok, see ya there at 6 then."

Gohan hung up his phone and checked the time, 3pm he still had time to catch a quick nap.

"You need to calm down or you aren't going to learn anything." Piccolo said condescendingly as he floated in a circle around the grounded Pan.

"I'm trying what more am I supposed to do?" Pan asked angrily throwing her hands up.

"Stop trying and actually do." Piccolo responded with no sympathy in his voice. "Put your hands down and correct your meditative position."

Pan rolled her eyes. After twenty years of training she was sure she knew how to meditate. The young Saiyjin took a deep breath and tried to clear her mind however, just like all day, as soon as her mind was clear thoughts of the blue haired vixen seemed to creep in and distract or more like arouse and fill with rage.

"Son Pan, perhaps you should ask your father to train you, I feel like that might be the next step in your training."

Pan looked up at Piccolo surprised and then laughed. Her father wasn't a fighter, he was a teacher. She had heard from many people that he had been powerful in his youth, but that was his youth he was a full grown adult now. Pan doubted that her father was stronger than Piccolo at this point.

"Papa doesn't fight Mr. Piccolo." Pan responded quickly. She didn't want to be rude but this was the worst idea that Piccolo had ever told her.

"You might be surprised, there was a time when the only thing your father wanted to do was train." The namek responded as he allowed himself to drift back to the ground.

"I'm not surprised, I have heard the stories." Pan responded straightening herself to a standing position and shedding the white coat she had been wearing before. Pan now stood in a white Gi. Piccolo had suggested she wear it to help her feel at peace, but it had not helped.

"That was a long time ago, he has probably grown soft." Pan said with a shrug.

"A Saiyjin never grows soft." Piccolo responded. "I'm done wasting my time for today, we can start again tomorrow but I strongly suggest that you ask your dad to train you."

"Are you kidding we still have like two hours!" Pan responded distraught.

"Well you can't focus so I'm sure I can find better things to do." Piccolo said speaking to her as if she were a child. He always did that and it was the thing in life that made her feel the worst. Piccolo had been training her since birth, so naturally he would view her as a child, but he only spoke to her that way when he was disappointed in her.

Pan hung her head and headed into her house as her friend and teacher departed. Pan said a quick hello to her mother and grandfather and headed to her room to call Bulla. Pan was not close to her father, not like she was to her mother. In fact she was closer to a lot of people than she was to her father. Pan had memories of her father and her grandfather playing with her when she was young, but most of the memories of her father were him going to work or him locking himself in his office to finish work. Sure he had the weekends off, but ever since she understood tournament rules Pan had been participating in Tournaments and those usually took place on the weekends. Pan had lost her first couple tournaments and after she won her first one her father had never came to another.

Pan pulled out her phone, it was almost three, and she was supposed to be training with Piccolo for two more hours. She had lost precious time because of her own lack of control. Why couldn't she stop thinking about Bulla? It was as if the girl had enchanted her. Pan knew Bulla wasn't a witch but sometimes she seriously wondered if the other Saiyjin was. Pan speed dialed number 2 and listened to it ring. Each ring made her more and more worried that the other wasn't going to answer. When the line connected it was not Bulla's voice that came out. Instead a husky voice answered.

"Bulla's phone, please hold." It said to her before she heard Bulla shout something and then what sounded like a small altercation.

"Hey, I just wanted to let you know we concluded training early today. You can come over whenever you want, that is if you aren't too busy." Pan responded when Bulla answered. They concluded their conversation and Pan disconnected the call.

Pan toyed with her phone for a minute running what had just happened in her head. Who had answered Bulla's phone? Bulla didn't usually let people touch her phone, the only person she let touch her phone was Pan. Tons of emotions raced through her all at once making her feel tense and drained all at the same time. Anger was the most predominant one. Pan didn't like Bulla coming to her tournaments because she hated seeing guys fawn all over her. But it appeared in that negligence she had driven Bulla to find someone else to occupy her free time.

Free time, Pan would have a lot of that with Piccolo refusing to train her. Perhaps she should call her father and see if he would at least fight with her, that way she could prove to Piccolo that he was over exaggerating Gohans skills and finally get back to training her. Pan dialed 4 on her speed dial and listened to it ring. Her father answered a lot faster sounding tense and groggy.

"Hey." She responded. "I was curious, Mr. Piccolo thinks it would be a good idea for me to train with you, would you like to uh…fight? Uh, tonight at like uhm 6 I guess, uh just meet with Piccolo in front of my house and he will show you. Ok yeah cool see ya then." Pan hung up her phone. She had never really called her dad before so it was a very uncomfortable conversation. Not to mention that even when they had lived under the same roof they had barely interacted. Pan groaned and laid back on the bed waiting for Bulla to arrive.

Bulla landed near the back door of Pan's house. Usually if Bulla snuck in it was through Pan's window that was next to the door, but this time Bulla knocked on the back door instead. Pan opened it quickly causing Bulla to question if she had just been waiting.

"Hi. No I just could feel your power level." Pan said softly, motioning for the other to follow her inside.

Bulla followed obediently as they slid their way into her room. Pan's room was fairly large but it was full. In one corner she had a large computer with an equally massive surround sound system that actually spread along the walls. In another she had a worn looking punching bag. Then there was Pan's queen sized bed and dresser along with the couch in the middle of the room. The two of them had spent a lot of time of that couch watching movies and playing games, as well as playing with other things. Pan sat in the center of the couch and Bulla sat next to her.

"I have some things I want to say." Pan said turning to face the other.

Bulla nodded encouraging her to continue. This was the first time since Bulla arrived that Pan actually got a look at her. Her usually flawless skin had a few tell-tale bruises that were peeking out from the fabric that was likely covering many more. This made Pan nervous, it was evidence Bulla had been with someone else, and now that she was focusing she could smell sex on the other. It was hidden under an insane amount of fruity perfume, Pan's favorite in fact, but it was there.

"I feel like you were unfair to me putting me on the spot the other night." Pan said tensely. "You know that is a sensitive topic between us and you brought it up in front of other people. I feel like I had the right to be upset. You were late and we had plans, and you have been doing that a lot lately. You keep saying you want something serious, but you aren't reliable, you don't make us a priority."

"How can I make us a priority when there is no us?" Bulla asked upset. "I'm lucky if you have enough time to see me at least once a week. And most the time it's just us arguing about whatever we forgot to argue about last time."

"Well maybe I would have more time if you weren't always late." Pan said throwing her hands up.

"Again with that…you always blame it on me being late. I have to try and make my life work around your skewed schedule. Sometimes I have other responsibilities I have to uphold." Bulla responded plainly.

"Like getting laid?" Pan asked harshly.

"Excuse me?"

"Who did you have sex with?" Pan asked unexpectedly in a pained voice. "You say you care about us, but you show up to talk to me after fucking someone else. Who and why?"

"Nobody." Bulla responded flatly only answering one of the questions refusing to meet Pan's intense gaze.

"That's a fucking lie I can smell him on you." Pan growled. "I can see the marks all over you. You don't get a bruise like that on your chest by accident." The worst part was that she could almost recognize the smell. Goten maybe? But why would Bulla be having sex with someone twelve years older than her? And why would it be Pan's uncle Goten of all people? Was Bulla trying to prove a point? Having sex with someone right before they were supposed to meet surely she was trying to make Pan mad. Had that also been Goten who answered her phone then? It was likely since the person had sounded oddly like her father. A connection she had tried to ignore earlier.

"That's none of your business." Bulla said softly trying not to make eye contact.

"Really, you're going to act like this now?" Pan said, her voice now seemed to grow angry and the anger was evident on the girl's face.

"I don't know what you mean."

"God you're such a brat!"

"Yeah tell me something new."

"How about this, when I find out who you had sex with I will murder them." Pan responded.

This statement shocked Bulla causing her to look straight at Pan. Was she serious? Before Bulla could say anything Pan wrapped a hand around her neck and pinned her against the door she had entered the room through. "I don't care who it is, it could be one of my family members and I will still tear them to pieces." Pan said as she tightened her hand a little bit. Bulla growled and quickly shoved the others hand and arm away. Pan was slightly surprised by how strong Bulla was, but she was also ashamed of what she had just done.

"You don't scare me." Bulla responded speaking of what the other had said not the others actions. "Yeah you're strong, but you're not the strongest and this time you are seriously outmatched. Honestly I thought you wanted to work this out? Why did you have to start a fight? You always start fights."

"Excuse me? If you weren't always acting like a spoiled little bitch we wouldn't be fighting like this." Pan shouted back.

"If you don't like me the way I am why do you even want me?" Bulla shot back raising her own voice finally.

"Because this isn't you!" Pan screamed. "This is a recent thing! Usually you are so mellow and relaxed, but recently you have been so damn uptight."

"Are you sure that's me and not you?" Bulla asked causing Pan to freeze in place.

First her face got red and it was clear Pan was on the verge of having a meltdown, but she chose not to and instead took a deep breath. Bulla had basically just told her what Piccolo had said, she needed to relax and focus. But this woman infuriated her so much.

"You know, this really isn't worth it. If you wanted to be with me you wouldn't have had sex with someone else, and we wouldn't be fighting right now." Pan said calmly even though Bulla was sure that anger bubbled right under the surface, she was Son Gohan's daughter after all and he was known for being emotional.

"If you wanted to be with me you would have told the people you care about." Bulla said softly referring to the fact that their relationship had been a secret from pretty much everybody but Pan's teacher Piccolo.

Pan cringed at Bulla's words, but the other was right. She should not have kept their relationship a secret. She should not have denied Bulla's requests for something much more solid. Pan met her eyes but it was obvious there was no redemption for her in Bulla's heart, at least not right now. Pan looked to the ground, she was going to lose Bulla, at least for as long as Bulla chased this new obsession whoever it may be.

"Maybe another time then." Pan said softly. "But this doesn't mean I'm giving up, you'll get over whatever is going on and come back, it's really just meant to be and I believe that."

"I dunno." Bulla responded softly more than a little bit shocked from how quickly Pan's personality had shifted. She was not able to fully comprehend things at first.

"It's ok, cuz I do." Pan said before she gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You should leave now."

Bulla stared at her longtime friend and companion. Pan was cutting it off, ending it as clean as possible. Another time? In the future when they both knew themselves? How would Pan react if she found out it was really her father Bulla was having sex with? Bulla hung her head and departed with a rueful smile. Indeed they had both made mistakes, and they had both been childish, but they had also been children together. Perhaps now it was time for them to be adults apart.

"Who are you having sex with?" Vegeta demanded as soon as Bulla entered the front door of capsule corps.

"Woah calm down. I thought you guys were gonna let my business be my business." Bulla said shocked crossing her arms and glaring at him. Why had he suddenly accosted her about this as soon as she walked in the door.

"As long as you are being safe, which obviously you aren't, I can smell it all over you. You didn't use protection, you could be pregnant. Do you really want to make the same mistake your mother and I made?" Vegeta asked.

"Oh my god I always thought I was just being rude when I called trunks a mistake." Bulla said letting out a laugh.

Vegeta didn't find it amusing he simply let out a growl and grabbed her shoulders. "I know it was one of Kakarots spawn." Vegeta spit. He could recognize the smell too they were around so often. He was assuming Goten which meant that not only was his son being cheated on but his sister was aiding it.

"Where the hell did you get that idea?" Bulla asked defensively. If her father could tell certainly Pan could tell she smelled like Gohan.

"I have trained with Kakarot for a long time. We have shared blood, sweat and tears as comrades do. I know how Kakarot smells. And this scent is similar so I can tell it's one of his." Vegeta said tensely.

"No." Bulla said sharply before pulling away from her father. "This is none of your business, I am an adult if I say leave it alone that means leave it alone." Bulla shouted before heading to her room and slamming the door.

Bulla kicked off her shoes and then decided to hell with it and stripped down to her underwear. She then decided just to get naked and curl into a ball under her blanket. She had to think, about everything. Every brash decision she had made today. Today had been so mixed up and Bulla was too confused and emotional to deal with her father shouting at her right now. She had sex with Son Gohan, a man who was twenty three years her elder. Any relationship she had with Son Pan was now gone. And her father knew, he had been mad but she was sure he wouldn't mention it to anyone. Vegeta would undoubtedly approach her when he was calmer. But what would she say to him? She wasn't even sure what had all happened herself. She had a lot of processing to do.

Pan floated in the air examining the area around her, a good flat area surrounded by mountains and trees that was where she would test her father. She didn't quite believe piccolo when he said Gohan was stronger than him. She had trained with Piccolo her whole life and still was not as strong as him. She wondered if that was because she had been unable to achieve Super Sayijin like Trunks and Goten had. Her grandpa had always encouraged her telling her about the female Saiyjins from another universe who achieved Super Saiyjin in an instant. Perhaps it was just harder for their race, after all her grandpa was an adult before he achieved it.

Pan descended to the ground as she felt Piccolo and her father approached. Within moments her father and her teacher were standing in front of her. Much to Pan's surprise her father was dressed exactly like Piccolo in a purple Gi. Usually Piccolo had his weights over top of his gi but today it was only the purple. Her father was not wearing his glasses, which was also odd to Pan because she rarely saw him without them. She supposed that glasses could be dangerous in a fight.

"So, I think you should fight Piccolo first so I can determine where you are at and how much I need to hold back." Gohan said to Pan as he examined the area.

"Excuse me?" Pan said with a scoff. "How about you just come at me at full power."

"What do you think Piccolo?" Gohan asked crossing his arms with a smug grin.

"Super Sayijin." Was all Piccolo said. Gohan nodded.

"Very well, we can fight, let's see how you handle a super Saiyjin." Gohan said nodding to his daughter and to Piccolo before taking a step back.

"Fine, but when I win you have to teach me how to become super saiyjin." Pan responded excitedly taking a few steps back herself.

"If you win." Gohan said, his smile seriously irritated the shit out of her and she couldn't wait for to wipe it off his face.

Piccolo rose from the ground and lifted himself away from the area so that he could watch the fight, but not be in the middle of it. He could tell that Gohan was serious about training his daughter. There had never been a time in which Gohan had looked more like his father. Intense, focused, serious, but also very confident Gohan knew that he could win this fight, but that was not what he was concerned with. No if piccolo knew Gohan, his only concern right now was helping Pan.

Everything about the fight threw Pan for a loop. There was no announcer like in tournaments, no referee's, no time limit, no rules. Pan took a deep breath and readied her fighting stance.

Gohan stood about ten yards from Pan watching her intensely. She was rigid, practiced, Gohan could tell that she had choreographed the way this fight would go. Her moves were going to be predictable. That was why she kept losing, she didn't mix things up. Gohan took a deep breath.

"Ahhh!" Gohan let out a guttural shout that sounded on the verge of painful.

Rage, the source of a Super Saiyjins power, and he was filled with it. More so recently, he harnessed the anger that he had towards his ex-wife for so easily writing him out of her life, anger at himself for not being a good father or husband, and anger at life for not being easy. But mostly just pure pain at the fact that he had lost his best friend, he hadn't married Videl for her looks, but for the way she made him laugh and the world she made him see. Pain translated easily into anger, and Gohan had been taught from a young age how to use it.

Pan had seen a lot of her family members go super saiyjin, but she honestly couldn't recall a time she had seen her father do it. For some reason this transformation shook her. An unfamiliar emotion welled up inside her. Fear perhaps? A deep, primal fear because the saiyjin part of her knew she was seriously outmatched and was unsure if she would be safe after this fight. Pan gritted her teeth and shook her head from side to side. She shouldn't be afraid, she could do this. After all piccolo had trained her father too so there was no way that he could be stronger than Piccolo.

Pan didn't have time to even tense up, in seconds her father was in front of her landing a blow directly in her stomach. Pan gasped and staggered backwards panting.

"N-no fair, the match hadn't started." She grumbled.

"This isn't a match." Gohan said coldly his blue eyes piercing through her confidence. "You don't become a super saiyjin by winning tournaments and following rules."

Pan was surprised, she had never really fought outside of tournaments, she wasn't sure how to go about it.

"S-so what are the rules then?" Pan stammered.

"Pan darling, there are no rules. Fighting is not a means of entertainment, it's a means of survival." Gohan responded. His opinion of fighting was much different than Papa Goku's and she was very taken aback.

"What?" Pan shouted confused. "How do when know when the fight is over?"

"When one of us is unable to fight back, or dead." Gohan said.

At first Pan looked horrified, but then she just looked angry and confused. Pan let out a low growl and then flew towards her father, he parried her attack as if she were hardly moving. He then grabbed her hand and sent her flying towards a line of trees. Pan quickly recovered and was able to avoid crashing in to the trees. Pan flew back towards her father attempting to land some sort of blow. Her fist barely missed his head, or maybe he dodged? Pan really was unsure at this point, she was finding it extremely hard to come to terms with the fact that her father was this impressive.

Gohan could tell that Pan was not focused. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him, landing a powerful blow right in her gut. Gohan let go of her wrist and allowed her to fall to the ground below them. She recovered shakily midair and shot back towards him but he avoided her, as he had avoided all of her attacks.

This one she landed, right in the center of his chest. She had expected something more than a solid barrier, it was his chest. Some leeway would have been acceptable, or a grunt, but instead she was met with her father's penetrating gaze. Pan froze where she was, unable to move, paralyzed by the intensity of the air around her. Then his blow landed. Pan went through the air, but Gohan pursued landing blows every couple of seconds. Within less than a minute Pan was a heap on the ground. She had never been hit that hard, it was almost as though he were trying to kill her. But she knew he wasn't. Was this what the power of a super sayjin was? Pure anger and violence.

"Why do you fight?" Gohan shouted at her from a short distance away.

"That's none of your business." Pan said through gritted teeth as she struggled to stand. She wasn't really expecting her father to wail on her like this. She had never been so worn down or in so much pain. It truly numbed the emotional pain that was ravaging her at the moment so she welcomed it.

In moments Goahn was behind her. With a quick hit to the back of her knees Gohan caused her to collapse once more. She was like him, she had deep rage inside her, Gohan could sense it. Perhaps it was the super saiyjin god ritual from when she was still unborn, or maybe it was just her, Pan's potential was limitless. Just as Gohan's had been. Gohan had chosen to settle down and attempt to raise a family, Pan was choosing to pursue her passion. But she would never make it far being as cocky as she was.

"It sounds like you can't come up with a good reason." Gohan said as he loomed over her. "If you don't have a reason to fight you will never excel. Becoming a Super Saiyjin isn't a gift, it is a call to action. As soon as you pick up the helm of the pure hearted warrior you have decided to dedicate your life to protecting those you love because, news flash, powerful people attract powerful enemies. The stronger you get the more danger you will be in, the more danger your friends will be in and the more danger those you love will be in. Super Saiyjin isn't used to win tournaments its used to protect lives. So until you are dedicated to this I will not teach you how to become a super saiyjin."

"What?" Pan shouted angrily forcing herself back up shaking from pain and anger.

"Oh you can still stand." Gohan said overly surprised, this only made Pan angrier.

"You said…"

"I said if you could defeat me, which you cannot." Gohan cut her off. The anger in her eyes confirmed that she was in fact his child. "Hey, but there is always tomorrow."

"What do you mean?" Pan asked slightly surprised.

"I'm not giving up on you, you are my daughter so its within you. Of this I have no doubt. We will get there, but it is going to take more sweat and blood than anything in your life. Now go home, take a shower and rest and we will do this the same time tomorrow." With this Gohan left, not giving her time to protest or demand they continue until she achieved the transformation.

Pan went to follow but found that she was in too much pain to even move, so instead she collapsed back on to the ground and stared at the sky.

"You could have told me he was stronger than you!" Pan shouted at the sky.

"I did, you didn't believe me." Piccolo responded from right next to her.

Bulla sat quietly on her bed, was this feeling regret? Fear maybe? She didn't regret her choices, perhaps loneliness. Usually when she was feeling like this she called pan, but she was sure the girl would not answer her call, or her text. Gohan? No he probably wouldn't care much for her petty problems, and it wasn't like she had any friends. Almost as if planned, her phone rang.

"Hey Trunks whats up?" Bulla asked softly after she clicked to connect the call.

"Yeah you need to come over, I just got off the phone with dad, and..yeah." He responded tensely.

"Just admit you're gay and that will be the end of it." Bulla said with a laugh.

"Oh so you want me to call our father and confirm that you are having sex with Goku's fourty something year old recently divorced son?" Trunks responded.

"Well maybe not that." Bulla responded meekly.

"Yeah get your ass over here. I would come over there, but I figure you would rather talk about this somewhere he can't overhear." Trunks said hanging up the phone.

She could tell he was judging her. Trunks stood in front of her as Bulla sat meekly on his couch. Was he judging her because of Gohan's age, or because of who he was?

"Trunks?" Bulla asked hoping to illicit a response from him.

"Are you dumb?" Trunks asked abrasively causing Bulla to look up at him in shock. "What did you think nobody would be able to tell? You are lucky you ran into dad and not mom, mom would have known right away it wasn't Goten."

"But dad still thinks it is right?" Bulla cut in.

"Don't interrupt me I am lecturing you." Trunks responded tersely. "Mom would have called me, and Goku and Gohan and dammit she probably would have called Videl too. You know they just got divorced the last thing he needs right now is Videl hearing that he's having sex with a 21 year old."

Bulla met his gaze and her own was filled with regret. She had done the wrong thing. Bulla had only made everything worse for everyone and this tore her up inside.

"But you ran into dad, and he only called me, because he is worried that my boyfriend is cheating on me with my sister." Trunks said softly. "Bulla, I don't care about your sex life, you're my sister I would like to pretend you don't have one. Be more discreet, especially because you are messing around with people who are very important to all of us."

"Okay." Bulla said softly allowing everything her brother had said sink in.

"Ok, now, Goten made food and dad told me you've been in your room for like 3 days straight so I know you are hungry." Trunks said before motioning for her to follow him to the dining room of his apartment, which she happily did.

"Oh so now she just turned her phone off." Gohan grumbled to himself aggressively pressing the end call button on his own cell phone.

Bulla had been ignoring him since they had sex. Over the past few days he had called her at least a dozen times and texted her more than twice that. He was sure she was ignoring him, what he wasn't sure of was why. Why had she done that with him, what was her motive? If it had only been intended as a one-time thing he supposed that was fine, but he needed to know because he had spent the last half a week mooning over her like a lovesick teenager. That was not something he was comfortable with. He didn't like feeling out of himself, and this girl had turned him inside out. He never would have imagined this situation with someone this young. Let alone Vegeta and Bulma's daughter. If either of them found out he was sure someone would skin him alive, or at least beat him to a pulp.

Gohan let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair. He was at work he really should be paying more attention to the world around him, but his mind was stuck on Bulla. The little blue haired imp had driven him insane. Gohan looked up at his empty classroom. He was technically doing his job. He had told his 5th hour Social Studies students to take a few days off of his class and spend more time interacting with the world around them in a positive way. They were supposed to write a report on how it affected their day to day lives and how it affected their attitudes towards strangers. It was Friday, they were due back on Monday. But he still had five other classes to teach and interact with, it was difficult with his mind on Bulla and his body going through more physical exercise than he had in at least ten years.

Gohan had spent every evening training with Pan. It had been a much needed bonding experience, and he hoped it would make the two of them closer. She was improving but her movements were still to choreographed, he felt like he was watching a show rather than participating in a match. He hoped that they could spend more time together doing this but part of him was worried, if she found out about Bulla she would likely be very hurt and feel betrayed by both of them. It was all a lot to think about. So many actions and their repercussions. Gohan groaned as he looked at the time, he needed to get ready for his next two classes, then home to wait out the weekend. Pan had a match tomorrow so that would be a much needed distraction.


	2. Chapter 2

( Part of the chapter has smut censored out. Visit a03 for the full version)

Chapter 2

Bulla had decided to take her brothers advice. Be more careful because he was someone they all cared about. But in order for that to happen she needed clarity, and the 15 phone calls she had missed from Gohan was probably the exact opposite of clarity. She stood anxiously in front of his apartment door. She didn't even know if he was home. Part of her wanted to leave, run for the hills and never look back. But unfortunately she couldn't do that.

"Why are you ignoring my calls?" Bulla froze as she heard a gruff voice from behind her.

"I'm sorry." Bulla said softly turning to face Gohan. He looked a little bit forlorn. "I've kinda been beating myself up about everything that's happened."  
"Then you should have answered, I have been doing the same, we could have talked about it, we still can." Gohan responded.

Gohan walked past her and opened his front door motioning for her to go in. Part of him felt bad because she had been standing outside his house alone for god knows how long. But he reminded himself that she could take care of herself. But still, she had been standing out in the open in a thin blouse and a very short skirt. He followed her in and locked the door behind them noticing that the skirt made her ass look very nice. In fact he was sure if she bent oven even a little he would be able to see what rested between her thighs. He knew he could handle whatever came at him but he wasn't really in the mood for any interruptions.

"Our brothers know." Bulla said, this caused the air in the room to thicken.

"How?" Gohan asked through gritted teeth.

"I came home the other day, and my dad said I smelled similar to your dad so he assumed I was having sex with Goten, and he called trunks." Bulla said softly, she was afraid. Bulla had worked up a lot of courage to come here today. Bulla had been wrestling with weather she wanted to continue to pursue this kind of relationship with Gohan. She had decided that she did not want to stop. She wanted more of Gohan, she was sure there would be a much more intense pleasure further down the road if she pursued him, and the pleasure would be for both of them not just her.

"What happened after that?" Gohan's face was white and she could tell that he was immensely worried. But a lot of it was because she herself was pale and shaking.

"Trunks told me to be more careful about how obvious I make my sex life and then Goten fed us." Bulla said with a shrug. There was an intense amount of forced casualty in it but Gohan chose to ignore it. This seemed to relieve a lot of stress from Gohan.

"I see." Gohan said with a nod. Crossing his arms he examined her more closely so as to read her. She was anxious and stressed a good deal. He knew it was more than the sex it was her own insecurity in life right now. She needed security and perhaps she was looking to him for that. "So then, why did you choose to come today, after ignoring me forever?"

Gohans voice was soft but his eyes were ever so intense and searching. What did he want to hear? What did he expect her to say? Bulla took a deep breath that shook deep within her.

"Cuz I've been thinking about it for the past week. I've been thinking about everything that happened and the choice that I made, and I still can't convince myself that it was a bad choice or a mistake. So I suppose part of me is hoping that you will be able to convince me that it was a terrible decision." Her voice was soft and clear but still it shook along with her body. She wasn't sure if that was entirely true. That is what part of her wanted, to be told it was a bad choice and that they shouldn't do it again. But another part of her was begging for him to tell her he didn't regret it, and that he wanted her. She was sure she could be okay with either.

"You came to the wrong person then." Gohan said, his eyes piercing through her. "I don't think it was a mistake. I mean if you don't want to do it again that's fine." He conceded.

Bulla met his gaze fully, shocked. He said it was fine but the look in his eyes showed something different, something she couldn't quite pin down. It worried her, and brought back the same sensation his look had given her a week before. Desire, something about that look made her want him. Was it because it was so intense, or was there another reason? Was it something primal and natural, they were both saiyjin's after all.

"What do you want?" She asked shakily. She was afraid of his answer, but part of her was excited. God she felt so conflicted.

"I…I'm not sure." Gohan said softly. The disappointment was in bulla's eyes. "But I don't want whatever this is to stop."

His words took Bulla by surprise, but she was pleased. Still she was unsure where they stood, but it was clear they were at least on the same page. She went to say something but as she opened her mouth her stomach spoke instead causing both of them to laugh uncontrollably for a moment.

"So…got any ramen?" She asked jokingly.

"I mean…yeah but we can go get some real food if you want, maybe talk this over in a place I haven't imagined laying you over every surface?" Gohan was only partially joking. Since the day they had sex he found it difficult not to imagine her in every room. Bent over the counter was his particularly favorite fantasy. Or maybe even just on her hands and knees in the living room. He had to shake the thoughts away because he was itching to act upon them.

His words had left her breathless so Bulla just nodded. Food, she definitely needed food. But now she was imagining him leaning her over various surfaces in the apartment and she kind of wanted to stay there. But he was right, they should talk.

Going out had not been the best idea. They hadn't been out long before people started to make their age gap very clear to them. The first was someone whispering how it had been a long time since they had seen a father and daughter together. The next was when their waitress, who was not much older than Bulla herself referred to Bulla as a child and invited Gohan to come over after he put his daughter to bed. It didn't seem to bother him much, in fact it seemed to amuse him, but it had boiled inside of Bulla all evening. Part of her wanted to tell them all to shut up, perhaps tell them that he wasn't _that_ kind of daddy. But she knew it was better to hold her tongue.

But now they were back at his apartment. They had really had no chance to talk in public, but the dinner was good. It had been a high end sushi place that Gohan would never go to if he had been paying, simply too expensive, but lucky for him Bulla picked up the tab and even bought him some extra to ensure he ate something that wasn't instant ramen sometime over the next few days. Bulla placed it in the fridge and walked over to where he was now sitting in the living room.

"So, we didn't really get to talk." Bulla said softly as she approached him.

"Yeah, we should do that." He said. Gohan motioned for her to come closer to where he was seated in the leftover recliner. Bulla complied and he pulled her so that she was straddling him and they were face to face. "So, before I make an ass of myself, what do you want?"

"I am not one hundred percent sure honestly." Bulla responded. "You." She then answered.

"In what context?" He asked raising his eyebrow.

"I…I don't know."

"Well, I'm sure I am not ready for a relationship." Gohan said apologetically. "And I don't know if I will ever be ready for a relationship with someone who is so much younger than I."

"I understand." His words made Bulla want to go back to hiding in her bed. But his hands were firm around her waist and it was impossible for her to move.

"However, honestly you are the only person I really want to be around."Gohan said softly hoping to make his point. "It's not just sex either, I genuinely just like having you around. So if you want, we can not do the sex and you can still just come over and hang out?" He offered hopefully.

"Does the sex have to stop?" Bulla asked softly.

"N-no, but if you wanted it to I wouldn't argue."

"But I don't want it to." She said ever so meekly.

"Then, you should stay the night." The edge in his voice made it clear that there would be no rest during this sleepover.

"Do you think that is a good idea?" Bulla asked searchingly.

"It's more discreet than you going home smelling like me."Gohan said with a chuckle.

Bulla felt the blush creep up her face, she knew he meant the smell of what he would leave inside her, protection didn't seem to be his forte but that only worried her a little there were pills and doctors that could help with any of those mistakes, plus she had started birth control to help regulate her periods, but she was unsure how that would work with her genetics, in fact none of them knew anything about Sayijin women and their pregnancies, even her father had mentioned that he was too young to understand those things when Planet Vegeta was destroyed.

Gohan's lips on her collarbone derailed any train of thought Bulla had been attempting to pilot. She let out a soft gasp as he bit her very aggressively. It bordered on painful, but that only made it better. Part of her wondered how aggressive he would get once he was completely comfortable. A deep primal part of herself wanted to taste all of his aggression, it was definitely the saiyjin in her. His teeth moved down biting her through her shirt, from her collarbone to her chest. She was sure she had bruises where he had rested his teeth before. He seemed to like to leave marks. She liked it. It was almost as if he was marking his territory. Bulla wouldn't mind being Gohan's territory.

(Smut)

Gohan pulled out of her and then lifted her before carrying her to his room to continue for what he was sure would be the entire evening.

The midday sun beat down upon the crowd and the athletes that filled the arena as they all waited patiently for the last match of the tournament. They were there to see the fate of the last two fighters as they met in the center of the ring. It had been a fairly brutal day for the two that now faced each other. Each had experienced their fair share of close calls this day, there was plenty of talent in the stands but many of them had left when they were eliminated.

Gohan stood nervously at the edge of the ring. He knew Pan wasn't gonna win this one, she simply had not been heeding his advice and was far too focused on becoming a super saiyjin, she should instead be focusing on refining her basic combat skills. He was prepared for that, but if he knew his daughter there would likely be a tantrum when she lost and he wasn't entirely sure how he was going to handle that. He could feel Piccolo and Goten watching him from the stands, but they were completely different gazes. While Piccolo was watching him be anxious over Pan's performance, Goten was noticing the light bruise that peaked out from below the collar of his Gi. Gohan knew that Goten saw him his brother had noticed it from the smug grin he had bequeathed Gohan with. Gohan could not tell if his brother approved or not, but he had yet to say anything, and that made it almost worse.

Today Pan and Gohan both sported the Son clans familiar orange Gi and looked far too much alike, Gohan was fairly proud that his child looked like a younger version of him. Pan on the other hand was slightly embarrassed that she looked so masculine sometimes and today as she faced off against her rival it was really getting to her. The first thing he had said to her was commenting that he thought that her father was her, and how terrible it must be to have no sexual appeal. Most days she would have been able to brush it off, but her recent separation from Bulla made it hit home. Pan was really looking forward to beating him, hopefully she had become stronger after her father relentlessly wailing on her for a week straight, he had allowed her a break the night before to rest up for the match so Pan hoped to see improvement.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the final match of our tournament. We are very proud of all of our amazing contestants today but per usual none of them could make it through our two returning stars! On one side of our ring we have Son-Pan, granddaughter of the most famous Hercule Satan! And facing off against her we have our returning champion Hai-Li! This is going to be exciting match, and it is anyone's game! So without further delay let our final match begin!" The announcer shouted above the murmurs from the crowd.

Pan tensed up as she faced her opponent, he had a smug smile on his face. Li was built very similar to Trunks and Vegeta, he was thin but there was plenty of power in his body, he had very little of his blonde hair remaining on his head he tended to keep it very short. He was clad in a pure black Gi and his blue eyes pierced her confidence. They commenced with their typical opening before heading to their corners and tensing for the fight. Pan had spent all day observing his matches in hopes to see an opening in his defense, but per usual she couldn't find one.

The fight began and Pan lunged towards Li throwing the first punch which he parried easily sending her stumbling to the side from the excessive force she had put into the blow. Pan attempted to retaliate but ended up leaving herself open for a powerful blow to the stomach. Immediately she noticed that his punch phased her a lot less than his blows had in their previous matches. She smiled, usually that blow would send her stumbling, however she was able to hold her ground and land one of her own sending him staggering backwards.

"Bastard." Li spit out towards her before mounting his own assault.

Pan quickly threw up her defense taking blow by blow to her guard as she looked for an opening, but Li was relentless causing Pan to retreat and reevaluate her position. Li did not leave her much time to think as he jolted towards her his fist landing right in the center of her sternum causing her to cough violently. Pan glared at him as he gave her the smile she hated. She dodged his next attempt and swept his feet from beneath him, or tried but he faulted over her kick as though he had been expecting it.

"Shame I expected something new since daddy is now training you." Li said cockily.

"Shut your fucking mouth." Pan growled before laying into him.

Pan landed a blow against his shoulder and another in his stomach before sending him backwards with a roundhouse. Li took it like a champ and laughed at her. He laughed, that made her much angrier than she already was. However Pan was no good at controlling her rage which made and easy opening for Li to retaliate. He released a barrage of blows forcing her backwards, then the alarm announcing the end of the match sounded.

"What?" Pan shouted.

"Ring out!" The announcer shouted and the crowd roared.

Pan looked down and saw that he had driven her beyond the edge of the ring, she gritted her teeth.

"Maybe you should just stop trying." Li said before walking away towards the center of the stage.

Pan walked away passing her father without a word. Today was supposed to be different, she was supposed to have learned something from her father, it was his fault for not training her and instead just beating her she decided. Pan made her way to where she had stored her gym bag and donned a red shirt she had received months before from Bulla before she returned for her second place conciliation award.

After the ceremony Pan was greeted by her father, her uncle Goten, and Piccolo. She was ashamed, and mad. She didn't want to see them, she didn't want to see disappointment on their faces. Much to Pan's surprise she did not see disappointment, instead they seemed proud. What the hell? She had just lost, why were they proud.

"You did very well. I saw a ton of improvement." Gohan said gleefully.

"Really? Because just like always she was rather pathetic." Li said as he approached them after exiting the stage himself.

Pan gritted her teeth and turned to face him. Of course he had that damn smile plastered on his face and she had to use all of her self-control not to attack him then and there.

"A ring out isn't much of a win." Gohan responded cynically. "Most people fight until the end, but I suppose you can't handle it when she hits you so you have to go for a ring out."

"Obviously you don't know much about fighting because her performance was pathetic." Li shot back with a scoff. "Like I said before Panny, you should just stop embarrassing yourself and go be a housewife or something, that is if you can find a husband."

His words were harsh and didn't seem to phase Gohan, but they caused Pan's blood to boil as she attempted to pursue her retreating antagonist.

"Stop!" Gohan shouted grabbing his adult daughter by the back of her shirt. "Everyone came here to watch you fight not watch you throw a temper tantrum because you lost."

"Let me go, I'm not a child." Pan snapped at her father struggling against her clothes. She didn't want to rip them, she liked her shirt, and she didn't want to take it off.

"I will let you go when you stop acting like one." It was the first time in her life that Gohan's tone scared her. Never had her father spoken to her with such authority. Was this the Gohan everyone else knew? Was this who her father was before he married her mother? Or was it her birth that changed him? She was unsure, she was honestly afraid of the truth.

After one last ditch effort to pursue Pan growled and reluctantly stood up glaring at her father. But she couldn't glare for long because he was right, she was acting like a little kid throwing a tantrum.

"Do you know why you lost?" Gohan asked condescendingly.

"Because I can't go super saiyjin!" Pan shouted at him.

"No. Calm down." Gohan responded crudely letting her go and crossing his arms.

"Well then enlighten me wise one." Pan said through gritted teeth.

"It's because you don't know how to fight." Gohan said these words confidently.

"Excuse me?" Pan said with a quick laugh.

"I know, I expected better from Piccolo's training. I suppose he was soft on you, just like we all were." Gohan said thoughtfully.

This got Pan visibly worked up, she stood in front of him red faced looking like a young version of her mother. To this Gohan laughed even more unable to resist.

"What do you mean I don't know how to fight?" She shouted. "I got second place!"

"Yea, but you didn't win. With your genes you should win easily." Gohan said. "You should have more pride in your Saiyjin heritage and not just perform martial arts moves against your opponents."

At this point Piccolo and Goten looked at him with very wide eyes.

"Okay Vegeta." Piccolo joked causing Goten to burst out laughing as well. But still Pan took it to heart she was like her father, she had a lot of passion inside her and could get excited about things like these.

"Ok what do you mean I just perform martial arts moves?" Pan was becoming aggressive now, the look in her eyes had gone from offended to curious. Gohan smiled. That was more like it, Pan was looking more into it now.

"Okay," Gohan started pulling out his smartphone and sitting on the ground motioning for Pan to follow, "I have been analyzing your fighting technique. Now, correct me if I am wrong but, when you enter a fight you already know what you are going to do and how you are going to respond to your opponents attacks. Correct?"

Pan nodded sitting next to her father on the ground. At this moment anyone looking could see that Pan was indeed still her father's child. Though she was an adult she sat hanging on every word he was saying, deciphering it and gaining from it. She seemed enthralled.

"So when you fight, you do in a pattern, you don't mix it up so it only takes a good opponent a few matches to see through your technique." Gohan said drawing a diagram of a straight line. "Nothing changes so you are the only reason you are losing. If you vary your moves than you'll see improvement. Don't overthink or plan your reaction, just react."

"But…what about strategy?" Pan asked condescendingly.

"Strategies win wars, not battles the only strategy you need is your training. If you pay attention to your training you will be able to win the battle and ultimately turn the tide and win the war." Gohan said.

His words seemed to make a connection with Pan and that brought him joy. But unfortunately it would take more than words, it would take time. Pan would have to relearn everything she knew about being a martial artist. He supposed if he had just taking charge of her training from the beginning she would not be in this situation.

A loud ring pierced the air and Gohan pulled out his cellphone. He smiled down at it, he had received a text from Bulla asking if he was going to be back soon to continue where they had left off before he left this morning.

"Okay so then we will continue tomorrow night, currently I have some unattended business that I need to…uh…tend to." Gohan said. "I'm proud of you Pan. Don't worry you'll get it."

Gohan said a quick round of goodbyes before heading home.


	3. Chapter 3

Gohan laid his feet on the soft dirt, allowing his power to recede. The golden glow that enveloped him faded and then altogether disappeared. Today's training had been more brutal than the last, but Pan had taken it fairly well. Instead of being a heap on the ground as she had the first time, she was standing albeit she looked on the verge of collapse. Gohan was proud of the improvement she was making but he was sure her head was not in the correct place to attain such power. No she would have to wait; she was far too full of herself and not prepared for that level of responsibility. Gohan approached her and smiled, he was very glad for the opportunity to train with his daughter and part of him regretted not attempting to take over her training sooner.

"I won't be able to train you next week." Gohan announced to a weary looking Pan.

"What? Why not?" Pan asked trying to mask disappointment.

"It's finals week. I will have a lot of work I need to keep up on, people turning in assignments from the first of the semester and all of the tests."

"Oh, okay." Pan said, it was clear she understood, but was not at all happy about it. "So what am I supposed to do just not train for a week?"

"I mean you could always train by yourself. Meditate, it will help you further understand your limits." Gohan offered as he slipped his jacket on over his Gi.

"I mean I guess I can do that. But there is another tournament here in two weeks so I really don't wanna fall behind." Pan said with a groan as she collapsed into a sitting position.

"What we are working on is not something you are gonna forget how to do in a week." Gohan said smiling at her.

Pan rolled her eyes. Her father was impossible. They had been working on breaking her of her bad fighting habits for the last two months. Pan didn't want to embarrass herself in front of a crowd again she was growing tired of it. After the last loss Gohan had advised that they keep away from the tournament scene until she felt ready to dive back in. It had been good for her she was able to keep her mind clear, not worrying about the next tournament allowed her to put all of herself into training. However she didn't want to stay out too long so they had decided that the tournament that took place in two weeks would be her return to the scene, or at least a chance for her to gage where she was.

Pan insisted every day that if she just knew how to become a super saiyjin she could win. Her father told her that was not the answer, even went as far as to tell her she wouldn't be allowed to use super saiyjin in a tournament. Pan felt as though she was improving however, she was holding up against her father better and the few sessions that Piccolo had come to had received her praise from her old teacher. She was still taken aback by her father's abilities. She wished her father had been this involved since the beginning, she was sure she would already be a super saiyjin if he had been training her the whole time. Begrudgingly they said their goodbyes and headed their separate ways.

Gohan landed in front of his apartment and smiled. Warm light shone behind the thin curtain that covered his living room window, and he could hear music playing from inside, he could smell the food cooking behind the door. He stood for a minute with his hand on the door handle to his home. Home, it had been a minute since where he lived had felt like home and this apartment felt more like home than anywhere he had lived before. When he had first moved in he had feared being lonely but that had never happened. He opened his door and could hear Bulla cursing inside. She had ensured he wasn't lonely. Most nights she found her way over, whether it was to cook for him or watch tv with him she made his home a place he enjoyed being.

"Wow what a dirty mouth for such a pretty girl.' Gohan said as he walked into view.

"Oh shut the fuck up." Bulla growled. "Who knew making tacos was so difficult."

"It isn't, move over." Gohan laughed as the sprite-like woman glared at him but she conceded and stepped to the side.

Gohan had not expected to have such a domestic life when him and Videl separated. Honestly having someone to come home to helped with the separation, but he wasn't sure that it was the healthiest thing. But they were both coping with the loss of love so why not cope together. Gohan smiled, she claimed making tacos was hard, but she was already done. He pulled the hamburger off of the stove and pulled down some plates. Bulla had already prepared the toppings so Gohan quickly made them a few each motioned for her to follow him to the living room.

When Gohan had moved in his living room only held a sad old recliner, but since that day Bulla had gotten him a couch and a few other chairs as well as a small wooden coffee table. This was where they usually ate when she was over. Since Bulla had shoved her way into his life he felt exponentially happier, it was an odd feeling one he had not been accustomed to. But he was definitely starting to like it, maybe a little too much. They spent more time simply being together than anything else.

"I probably won't be over much this next week. My mom has a charity event planned for the end of the week and she says she needs all hands on deck for it." Bulla said as they ate their food. She knew she didn't have to tell Gohan her plans, but she felt slightly obligated to. She didn't want him worrying about why she wasn't coming over.

"Okay. Its finals week so I probably won't be home much anyway." Gohan said before he finished his plate and stood for seconds.

"Oh." Bulla said a little surprised. Part of her was curious if Gohan intended to tell her. He didn't have to, she knew that. He was under no obligation to tell her anything, but part of her was glad that he had. Bulla wondered if he would communicate these things with her in the future. And part of her wondered if they had any sort of future together. Bulla quickly brushed the thought away and demanded more food. She supposed it was better if she just focused on now. Their nights had become a sort of routine, first they would have dinner then Bulla usually cleaned while Gohan finished grading for school, and then they spent the night in each other's arms. But tonight would mark a week of separation, it was odd she would simply miss being around him.

The week passed in a blur for Bulla. She had stayed ardently busy between helping her mother with the charity event and trying to find something to wear to the charity event. She was sure she ate far too much food while helping the caterer find the right recipes to please her mother. By the end of the week Bulla was ready for the charity event to be over with.

Bulla dreaded walking into the party room. She knew Pan would be there Mr. Satan and Videl were the top contributors to these events. Videl, Bulla saw her in a different light now. After being with Gohan the last two months, and watching him grieve for their relationship, Bulla was very angry at the woman. A lot of the anger came from how together Videl looked. She didn't seem to be suffering from the separation. She was flirting with many of the men in the room, whether it was intentional or not it was the vibes she gave off.

Bullas eyes fell to Pan who was dressed in a long black gown, her black hair spiked back. Pan was wearing makeup, and Bulla was pretty sure it was the first time ever. Part of her hoped that it was for her, but she had to crush those feelings. It became exceedingly harder when Pan caught her staring. Pan gave Bulla a gentle smile and broke the eye contact. Bulla looked away and took a deep breath. She hoped Gohan would be here soon, lately he had been her safe place and she could really use it at this moment.

Gohan noticed her the moment he walked through the front door of Capsule Corps, her black hair showered over her shoulders longer than she had allowed it to get in years. Videl stood near the center of the room in a red dress, she did not stand alone she was accompanied by Pan, Hercule, Trunks, and Goten. Gohan hadn't seen Goten since Pan's last tournament. Goten had felt him approaching, even if Gohan's power had been completely suppressed he would have felt him coming his energy was simply so familiar. Their eyes met and the greeted each other across the large party room without a word.

Gohan made the choice to avoid the group unless one came to him. Once he ripped his eyes away from Videl he found Bulla. She stood by herself near the back of the room observing her surroundings, much like her father whose eyes Gohan could feel boring into him.

"Hey so since you're a pervert now, wanna have a threesome with your brother and i?" Gohan had not been expecting trunks to speak from so close and he turned quickly to face the blue haired man who still looked much younger than he actually was.

"Fuck you." Gohan spat at Trunks.  
"I mean isn't that technically what he is asking." Goten asked from the other side of him.

"I'm not a pervert." Gohan said softly.

"I mean I guess she might have some daddy issues too." Trunks said knowingly.

"Is that you implying you have daddy issues?" Gohan said snidely to which he was sure he felt Goten tense. "Just go away." Gohan sighed shooing the two away.

When Trunks and Goten allowed him some peace his eyes found Bulla again. Bulla's eyes met his and she began to make her way over to stand next to him. As she approached Gohan couldn't help but notice her outfit. It was a short cocktail dress, but the skirt was full. It came about halfway down her thigh and Gohan couldn't help but think of the soft skin he knew was hidden beneath her skirt.

Bulla watched the interaction between her brother and the two Son brothers. She wasn't entirely sure what had happened, but she had been amused by their interaction. Bulla understood that she was much younger than Gohan, but she felt she was drawn to him because they were both of the same generation. Yes she was closer to Pan's age, younger in fact, but she had grown up with Trunks and Goten around constantly, she imagined that they would have grown up with a Gohan much like how Gohan was now. So naturally they would get along, but who knew they would have become so close.

"You clean up pretty nice, and by nice I mean I'd like to take those clothes off of you." Bulla said in a low voice as she stood next to him. She made sure not to touch him, she didn't want anyone to become aware of the tension that was in this part of the room.

"Damn shame we are at a party." Gohan teased shooting her a hot gaze.

"A party at my house, where I have a bedroom." Bulla teased motioning for him to follow her as she escaped out a side door.

Gohan impulsively followed her, not really caring that he could feel Vegeta's eyes on him. If Vegeta was going to do something about it he would have already. As he slipped through the door behind her he grabbed her hips and pulled her back against him in a sort of hug.

"This is probably the worst possible idea you have ever had." Gohan said looking around the room before locking Bulla's bedroom door.

"Yeah." Bulla said softly averting her eyes from Gohan. "But I mean….you saw them. Like mother like daughter I guess."

Gohan realized at this point what exactly had set Bulla off, it had been seeing Pan. Gohan couldn't blame her for her rash actions, for he too was near the edge. Walking in the first thing he had seen was his ex-wife looking happier than she ever had with him. He saw all the gazes on her and while watching from across the room he had seen more than a few, dare he say attractive, men approach her. It was pain, Bulla was in pain and was searching for a Band-Aid. Gohan had been content to provide that Band-Aid, but not anymore. No, now he was going to help her heal, and hopefully in it he could heal too.

"Hey, how about we try something else." Gohan offered, he opened the door and motioned for her to follow him. "I have a better way for you to take out your stress."

Bulla nodded and followed. She was curious as to what Gohan intended, but honestly anything was better than her terrible idea. She followed him out to the lawn where he grabbed her hand and together they lifted off of the ground. The city lights were intense and as they rose higher Bulla began to see the end of them, she saw each streetlight sparkling like stars someone laid upon the land. Bulla paused taking in the view, everything seemed peaceful, and it cooled a little bit of her inner turmoil. Gohan pulling on her hand snapped her back into reality. He didn't say a word, simply motioned for her to follow, but still he held her hand tightly in his. Bulla flew behind him, the lights from the city began to fade as they fled from civilization. When they landed west city was a cluster of lights below them.

Gohan had brought them to a valley high in the mountains, it was lush and green and nothing but nature disturbed the air. Bulla removed her heels and placed her feet in the cool grass. It was calm here, a sort of calm she had never experienced it brought a shiver of pleasure through her. She smiled at Gohan, and he smiled back.

"I want you to try something." Gohan said letting go of her hand and stepping back. His face was more serious now intense almost.

"Okay." Bulla said. Something about his gaze made her heart race in anticipation. She wasn't sure what for, but it was something she had never felt before.

"Close your eyes." Gohan said. Bulla complied. "Now think of everything that hurts. Think of Pan, think of all of the crushing insecurities that you have built up in yourself."

"O-okay?" Bulla stammered a little confused, but she let it flow within her. She thought about Pan, every bittersweet memory, from their first kiss, to when they actually admitted that they liked each other. Every moment of her adolescence was spend with her, getting out of class and rushing home because Pan was always waiting for her. She could see Pan's smile, the smile she knew better than any, she could see Pan's eyes when they were lit with excitement, or when they were sad. Bulla could feel tears burning in her eyes.

"Now take that pain, and let it out." Gohan said.

Bulla's eyes met his and her tears began to flow. They were no longer sad tears, they were embarrassed tears, angry tears, tears that hurt for another reason all together. Bulla could feel the rage building within her.

"Hit me." Gohan demanded.

"W-what." Bulla shouted taken aback.

"C'mon, it's not like you will be able to hurt me so come at me with all you've got." Gohan teased.

"Oh yeah? You forget that I am the princess of all Saiyjins! You are simply the spawn of a low class warrior." Bulla shouted, shooting towards him and putting all of her strength into the blow she threw towards him.  
"Yep you are definitely Vegeta's daughter." Gohan said with a laugh raising his arms and blocking her fist as it headed for his face.

"Has there ever been any doubt?" Bulla asked as she assaulted his guard with everything she had in her.

Gohan was surprised by the strength behind each swing; she had enough in her to push him backwards. She wasn't a fighter, but she could be and she would be amazing. He was very surprised that Vegeta hadn't seen the potential in her, or at least he had chosen not to nurture it.

"Oh come on, you've got to have more than that. You call yourself a Saiyjin?" Gohan prodded. "No wonder Pan was embarrassed to be seen with you."

"Fuck off." Bulla growled. He was trying to make her mad, he was picking on her weaknesses and insecurities the same ones that she was struggling with in her head. When had he gotten to know her so well?

Each hit that followed he met with painful banter finding another part of her emotional guard to shatter. How much would it take for her to shatter? Gohan seemed to be enjoying pricking her. Each phrase he spat made her angrier and filled her with pain. Each time he spoke she swung a little harder, shouted a little louder.

"Shut up, Shut up, Shut up." She repeated with each blow she landed against him but this only made fed his attitude and the bullying persisted.

Gohan could feel her anger in the air, it was almost tangible and it was building around her.

"My turn." Gohan shouted parrying her fist and using a kick to send her flying back.

"Damn." Bulla shouted regaining control of herself. "I wasn't expecting that."

Gohan smiled and shot towards her landing a blow in the middle of her stomach. Bulla gasped and grabbed her stomach stumbling backwards. Bulla dodged his next shot and shot back with a kick to his side. It seemed to knock the wind out of Gohan but it did not seem to affect him in any other way, his stance remained firm. He grabbed her by the wrist and threw her towards a tree.

She regained herself and staggered towards him and growled.

"What are we even doing?" Bulla asked distraught, not that she minded fighting it was almost as if her cells craved it.

"Now try to go Super Saiyjin." Gohan demanded.

"Wh-what? There is no way I can do that!" Bulla shouted.

"It's always worth a try." Gohan smiled. "Just pull everything together. Let it all feed your anger and focus it inside of yourself. And scream."

"Y-you're joking about the screaming right?" Bulla asked softly.

"No, now give it everything you've got." Gohan demanded.

Bulla nodded adamantly and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and allowed everything to stew. The pain welled in her chest and she allowed it to brew into anger. Anger, mostly at herself for being herself. Bulla knew she was impatient, and loud. She knew that she was a little too much to handle sometimes. She was mad that she had never learned different. She was mad that she wasn't the person Pan wanted. She was mad because she knew she wasn't who Gohan wanted either. She was mad at herself for allowing her emotions to become this out of control. She allowed it to build and bellow out of her chest. She let everything out with a piercing scream, all of her frustrations and pain. She continued screaming long after she ran out of breath. She felt the anger coursing through her blood. Was this what it felt like to give into her feelings? Was this intoxicating rush what her brother felt every time he went super saiyjin? Was this humming in her blood her saiyjin heritage? She felt Gohan begin to raise his power level to match hers as if he were encouraging her. Telling her she was close without saying words.

An intense wave of strange power rocked the room, at least for those who could feel the change in the air. Or at least it was strange to most, but Pan recognized the power immediately, so she scanned the room for Bulla and sure enough she was gone. As the second power level accompanied her Pan gritted her teeth. Why was Bulla with her father? As Pan's eyes scanned the room the first person she made eye contact with was Vegeta. He recognized the two powers as well. Pan watched Vegeta leave and chose to follow him.

When Pan caught up to him he had stopped and was watching the scene below, Pan fell to his level so as to see clearly what was happening.

Gohan was facing a tattered looking Bulla, Pan could see scrapes and bruises along her pale skin. Her dress was torn revealing her hip and part of her stomach. Her skirt trembled violently in the intense power that she was letting out. Pan had never felt anything like this from Bulla, she had not thought it was within the other. As Bulla's power increased the intensity of her scream did as well. Pan shivered as she watched, knowing deep down what was going to happen next.

"Keep going, you're almost there!" Gohan shouted at Bulla oblivious to the audience they had acquired.

Pan watched alone, her muscles tense as she watched Bulla achieve the level she had been trying to attain for years. Pan gritted her teeth as she watched her father transform as well. Pan grew angrier as her father congratulated Bulla. Pan had been begging her father for months to teach her how to become a Super Saiyjin and he had chosen to teach Bulla instead. The why of that was still a mystery to Pan but she intended to find out.

"What the hell?" Pan shouted as she descended, landing to the east of them. "I have been BEGGING you for two months to teach me how to become a super saiyjin, so you go and teach Bulla instead? What. The. Fuck."

"She was ready, you aren't or at least you weren't when we last trained." Gohan said gauging his daughter's actions. He wanted to know what she would do next, she was full of anger at this moment.

"How the hell do you come to that conclusion?" Pan said outraged. "Bulla doesn't train; I have been doing this my whole life. How the fuck is that snowflake more ready than I am?"

Rage filled Gohan, he didn't like the way Pan was talking about Bulla. His sweet Bulla… Gohan shook the thought off as he approached Pan. Gohan grabbed the front of Pan's dress and pulled her close.

"Watch your mouth. You wouldn't want to say something you regret." Gohan threatened. "Bulla, go home."

By this point Bulla had already returned to her normal state, unable to hold the transformation for long. Bulla nodded and left, she didn't want to but she had never seen Gohan this angry and she didn't want to see him any angrier.

Pan grit her teeth. Why was her father defending Bulla? Why was he favoring her? She wasn't even his child! Why did he have time for Bulla and not her? She watched Bulla leave and then felt her father release her. Landing on her feet Pan took a few uneasy steps backwards before she met her fathers gaze.

"What the fuck is going on!?" Pan demanded.

"That's none of your business." Gohan said blandly.

"Why are you defending her?" Pan asked.

"Why are you attacking her?" Gohan countered.

"Why the fuck are you even with her?"

"Do you really want to know the answer to that?" Gohan asked.

"You're fucking her." Pan said softly. "It all makes sense."

The look in Gohan's eyes told Pan she didn't want to know, but they also confirmed what Pan didn't want to know. As the pieces started to fall into place Pan began to shake. Why hadn't she realized it before? They were together the night her father had moved out. They were together when Bulla put her on the spot demanding more than Pan had been ready to give. They were together when Pan had called her when Piccolo gave up on her. It had been Gohan who had answered Bulla's phone. It had been Gohan's scent on her when she had come to Pan's house. The last two months he had been going home to Bulla. Pan glared deeply at her father.

"How could you?" Pan asked in a brittle voice. "She was supposed to be mine, This isn't fair. Papa has Grandma, Goten has Trunks….you had mom….Bulla was supposed to be mine!"

"YOU WHAT!" Vegeta's voice echoed through the valley they were in.

Gohan cringed, he had not been aware that Vegeta was near, and he knew he was no match for the Saiyjin Prince, and within seconds that was exactly who Gohan faced. Vegeta was obviously angry, it had been years since Gohan had seen such a deadly stare in his eyes. Gohan swore he felt the blow before Vegeta even moved. One blow to his stomach crippled the unprepared Gohan. One hit left him in a pile on the ground. He hadn't been aware that their power was truly this far apart. He knew obviously Vegeta was always training, but Gohan hadn't fathomed this level of power.

"If you weren't Kakkarots spawn you would be dead where you lay, remember to thank your father's good deeds for your life today." Vegeta said very clearly and slowly.

Vegeta turned to a distraught Pan with his own demons displayed in his expression.

"I'm truly sorry for everything you have had to endure tonight." He said to her. His words caught Pan off guard she had not expected that from Vegeta. He had always been rather harsh, but when she looked closer she could see that he was tired, of what she wasn't sure, but he was just as worn as the rest of them. She nodded to him and he departed leaving her to stare at her father.

"I don't wanna see you, like ever again." Pan said her voice cracking in pain. She turned and left who used to be her father to blackout alone.


	4. Chapter 4

"Owe, stop don't leave marks." Trunks grumbled pulling on his partners black hair as the Saiyjin bit him roughly on the collar bone.

"Yeah, whatever you say." The other said in a husky voice that sent shivers through him.

"Oh really? Whatever I say?" Trunks joked pointedly.

"If you can take me down you can have it, that's always been the deal." Their eyes met and he could see the intensity in the others black eyes even in the darkness that enveloped them.

"I bet you'd let my dad overpower you." Trunks said pouting to the other.

"Hmm, you're probably right, but that would be a different life." The other said softly before silencing any other remarks the other had with his lips.

Light assaulted them as the door to the room sprung open and someone turned the light switch at the door on.

"Dad! What the fuck!"

"Well you two certainly know how to make a dinner part 'interesting'." Vegeta heard Bulma say as he entered the room.

"What the hell did they do?" Vegeta asked glaring at his daughter who visibly shrunk at his gaze.

"Well, first your daughter comes in, during the middle of the silent auction, looking like this, extremely loudly." Bulma shouted gesturing to what was left of Bulla's dress after her super saiyjin transformation. "And then your son, oh gear up cuz you are gonna love this one, your son was caught in current condition," Bulma motioned to trunks who was wearing only boxers "in his old bedroom with Goku."

"I don't have the patience for either of you right now. I don't care if you are adults, go to your rooms. I will come find you when I am in a more merciful mood." Vegeta said threateningly, that was all it took and they both fled in fear.

"Wow really, your boyfriend's dad. That's a little inappropriate." Bulla said as she lay at the end of Trunks bed. "Is that why you were home so often at night recently?"

"You're one to talk." Trunks responded giving her a light tap with his foot.

"Hey, at least I didn't cheat on anybody." Bulla muttered.

"Okay I'm a failure I know!" Trunks growled.

"Daddy issues?" Bulla offered.

"Yeah, that probably has something to do with it." Trunks muttered lightly.

"When I told you to go to your rooms I meant separately to reflect on your poor life choices." Vegeta stood in the doorway of Trunks room glaring at them.

"How is he so intimidating he is such a tiny man." Bulla whispered as she quickly jumped off her brother's bed.

"Shut your mouth." Vegeta shot to her as he approached them both with Trunks now at her side.

"I mean you didn't tell us to go to our own rooms." Trunks pointed out visibly prickling his father.

"It's almost as if you are each trying to get me to beat you first." Vegeta said through gritted teeth.

"I mean you could just beat Bulla then we will all be happy." Trunks said with a shrug.

"You shut your mouth too. I'm tired of hearing you talk. Shut the fuck up for once and listen." Vegeta glowered. "You have embarrassed your mother for the last time. The stunt you pulled was ridiculous. How dare you do that to your mother? And you come in looking like a whore, which I suppose works since you are acting like one. These men are at least twenty years older than you guys. What were you thinking?"

"Well…" Trunks began.

"Shut up! You having sex with Kakkarot, and you having sex with his son. You have ruined any trust that I could have ever had in you two."

"Well that's taking it a little far don't you think?" Bulla said softly.

"Your brother knew. Your brother knew and he lied to my face." Vegeta said cuttingly to is daughter. "And you dare to put Goten through that, you don't do that!" Vegeta spat at his son. "You are both stubborn spoiled brats. I'm tired of it. Being stubborn is fine, but your behavior becomes a problem when it starts damaging other people's lives. We have a select group of people in the world that we are supposed to take care of, we are royalty that's our burden. If you can't do that little for those people then you aren't worth calling my children. I don't want to see either of you, I don't want to hear anything from you or about you. As far as I am concerned you aren't my children." With these harsh words Vegeta turned his back on the two blue haired half-Saiyjins and left them in his past.

Bulla knew they had no future beyond friendship, and she knew that was what Gohan had called her for. She could feel it in the way he looked at her, sort of sullen but determined. Part of her had hoped for a different outcome, but all of her knew what the outcome would be from the beginning. There was only so long before someone found out.

"So uh, my dad kicked me out, but my mom um helped me get an apartment, she paid two months' rent and told me to get a job and deal with it after that. I mean, I guess it's fair because she did the same thing for trunks when he moved out." Bulla rambled trying to break the silence in the least awkward way possible.

"I'm sorry that your dad kicked you out. It's my fault." Gohan replied softly from where he stood with his back against the front door. He stood there to keep her from leaving before they talked about where to go from here.

"Nah, I embarrassed him and he's angry. Rightfully so, so I just have to wait it out until he is no longer angry and we will be able to work it out. The moving out was probably a good idea too." She shrugged.

"So." Gohan said softly.

"So?" Bulla asked.

"You know it's probably for the best…" Gohan trailed not wanting to say the painful words he knew had to be said.

"Yeah, I know." Bulla said softly, she understood what he was trying to say. She knew the truth of it too.

"You can always like come over." Gohan said trying to find a solution.

"That's probably the worst idea you've ever had." Bulla muttered.

If this was the end it had to be the end. There were no friendly visits, there were not going to be any movie nights like other friends had. This would end here and they would both go on trying to forget the past two months they had spent together. In retrospect it was really not a long time and now that it was over it seemed like the time had passed in an instant. But the memories felt as though they had been built over an eternity.

"So, uh, have a good one…I guess." Bulla said shakily as she began to walk around Gohan.

"What does that mean, have a good one, a good what?" Gohan asked, he knew the answer he could feel the weight in his stomach as she said it.

"Uhm, I guess like a good life." Bulla said softly with a pained look on her face. "Until I see you again, and for all the time in between."

"Wait." Gohan said softly reaching out and grabbing her by the wrist. Gohan pulled Bulla towards him and wrapped his arms around her. They stayed together for a moment, all of the time that they had passed together was in that one final embrace. Bulla was sure she would never feel this okay again. "If I had known that last time would be the last time, I would have held you a little bit tighter for a little bit longer."

The sadness in his voice struck a chord with her, she felt the same and she longed for a time that they could never revisit. They parted, Bulla with tears in her eyes. Bulla quickly exited and headed down the stairs. Too lost in her own emotions Bulla did not see the woman at the bottom of the stairs who she promptly bumped into.

"I'm sorry." Bulla said softly shaking the fog from her head. "I'm sorry." There was a different weight in this apology as Bulla recognized the woman she ran into.

"Hey it's okay. But, uhm, are you okay Bulla?" The tone in Videl's voice was sincere and free of judgement. Videl was the last person she would have expected to be this way.

"Y-yeah. Uhm just the second floor." Bulla said motioning to the flight of stairs and departing.

"What on earth did you do to that poor girl? I don't think I've ever seen anyone cry that hard." Gohan didn't register the voice at first.  
"Shit is she crying?" Gohan said jumping and turning to face his door. There were traces of tears in his eyes as well.

"Yeah, but I think she will be okay. She's pretty smart." Videl said softly.

"Why are you here?" Gohan asked tenderly.

"What, I can't come and check on you a few days after everyone else finds out you are having sex with a 21 year old?" Videl asked jokingly.

"Everyone else? How long have you known?" Gohan tensed, her wording told him that she had known for a while.

"Since the Pan broke up with her." Videl said softly. "Everyone else was wondering if she was having sex with Goten, but I know what you smell like just the smell you left on her clothes, I spent days trying to get the smell of you out of the house, and as soon as I did you just sort of made your way back in on her."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Well, I figured you were both coping and it could be someone worse, it could be someone that might use you. And I've spent a lot of time with that girl, and I knew she wouldn't." Videl smiled softly.

"So then, why are you here now?" Gohan looked closely at her searching for any answer in her face.

"I just wanna know what was going through your head." Videl said softly. "Like I mean I know what her thought pattern was, believe me I thought it and married it. But what were you thinking?"

"Honestly?" Gohan said with a small laugh, Videl's personality had always been his favorite. But she gave him a question that required a lot of thought and self-reflection on the matter, something he had yet to do. Until now he had been acting solely on his own desires. For the first time in his life thought had not been part of the equation.

"Honestly." Videl said solemnly.

"I've spent my whole life being told to be something. 'Gohan you need to study!' 'Gohan you need to fight.' Now expectations aren't a bad thing, however having to be a certain way never let me be what I wanted to be. I feel like I have never really known myself. But I made sure to meet the expectations set for me. Mom wanted me to grow up and be successful, have a beautiful wife and a beautiful life. I did that, I met you and I knew I had found the person I wanted to be my wife and you gave me a beautiful child and a beautiful life." Gohan smiled to himself. Their life hadn't been perfect but it was not a life he regretted living. "My dad wanted me to grow up and be a strong protector, the one he never could have been, and I did that. I defeated Cell, and I help protect us from being erased. But I didn't want to do that. I didn't like my feelings when I was doing that. And then suddenly, nobody expected anything of me. I felt alone. There was a point where my mom called and yelled at me for not being good enough to you, she said if I were a better man than you wouldn't have left me. I mean you know my mom, she didn't mean for it to sound as bad as it does it just did. But you know while everyone I knew was either talking down to me, or tip toeing around me, or just not talking to me at all, she was there. She walked up to me and wanted nothing from me. Nothing but a smile. I can count on one hand how many people have cared about me like that." It was easy, two, the woman sitting in front of Gohan, and the woman they were talking about. "But honestly, she was my best friend throughout all of this. Bulla was the person that got all of my junk, all of my bad feelings, all of my anger, all of my stress, everything. It was the single most peaceful time of my life. I know it was inappropriate on a social level, but honestly anything that is not what my parents plan is socially unacceptable in this tight group of people that are allowed in the life of aliens like us." In this he was referring to his saiyjin heritage. "And I spent two months across from a person that understood every single burden I felt due to it. It was relieving, and relaxing, it was short lived…but of course peace always is. But I've chosen, regardless of all of the drama that has and will come from this whether I ever spend a single moment alone with her again or not, she is now and will always be one of the best friend's I have ever had."

Videl sat quietly as Gohan slowly spoke out his thoughts. She watched his eyes gloss over, he seemed to be in a different place as he spoke. She had known Gohan for a long time and she had never seen him so intensely in thought. Where she a different person his words would have hurt her, but instead they gave her peace. Her Gohan was okay, people had been worried he had gone off the deep end. Only a few days had passed since word had spread, from Bulma's mouth of course, and people were attributing his actions to Videl having broken Gohan's heart. While she was sure his heart was just as broken as hers, she could tell he was sane, and rational. He was okay, and he would be.

"Second only to me right?" Videl asked playfully slapping his leg.

"Of course." Gohan said with a chuckle.

The words hung in the air for a minute, they both knew it was the truth and there was little in the world that would ever change that. Videl stood and looked around once again.

"Leaving already?" Gohan asked softly. "Got the information you wanted?"

"There were no stipulations on forever Saiyaman." Videl said with a soft smile. "Now I'm sure that girl has you stocked up on food, I mean she's a saiyjin too, so my friend what should we have for dinner."

Gohan smiled and stood up to lead her to the kitchen, they may never be married again but he was glad that him and Videl would always be friends.

"Come on you are overreacting just a little don't you think?" Trunks asked crossing his arms nervously as he watched Goten throwing clothes aggressively in boxes. More specifically all of Trunks' clothes in boxes.

"You know I see now why you were just so chill with Bulla fucking Gohan. Is it like just a thing in your family or something? Is this like the Breifs normal? I mean I know both of your parents have a hidden attraction to my dad, so is that just something bred into you? Like I mean what the fuck?" Goten rambled completely ignoring any of Trunks' input.

"Goten, it's not like that." Trunks said softly trying to reach for him but getting a quick glare from Goten that made him think better of it.

"So when did you decide this was a good idea? Before or after you found out about Bulla and Gohan?" Goten asked pausing in place before beginning to tape up boxes. "Like how long has this been going on?"

"Well…" Trunks began.

"I honestly don't care." Goten said snidely before throwing a taped up box of clothes outside their second story window and on to the top of Trunks' car.

"Goten please." Trunks begged softly cringing about the sound of the box making contact.

"Oh? Is that how you begged my dad to fuck you?" Goten asked snidely. "Cuz you know what I know for sure is that you are a pathetic little bitch so I'm sure he'd be the one fucking you."

"Goten!" Trunks protested.

"No!" Goten shouted back getting in Trunks' face. "You don't get to say anything! You don't get to defend yourself! You hurt me! Nothing you can say will change that! I will not let you manipulate your way out of this! Because I mean we both know that is what you're good at. I'm done Trunks, we've been through this before. I don't even want to remember how many times, but for the love of god, my father, that's not something I am ever going to forgive. Now get out of this apartment."

"I don't think this is legal, I'm on the lease too you know." Trunks said as Goten shoved him towards the front door.

"Try and stop me I fucking dare you." The threat in Goten's voice was real so Trunks backed out the door. Within seconds it slammed closed. Trunks sighed and headed down the hall, down the stairs and out to his car to pick up the boxes that were now scattered on the sidewalk.

"I'm sorry this isn't a brothel, you're probably gonna have to look for lodging somewhere else." Bulla shouted out her apartment window as she watched her brother step out of his car in front of her apartment.

"Shut up and come help me with my stuff." Trunks was obviously embarrassed.

"Oh first you want to come live with me and now you are bossing me around. Nah bro find somewhere else." Bulla joked before making her way outside to help him.

"This sucks." Trunks muttered as they carried a load of boxes up the stairs.

"I mean it's your own fault." Bulla shrugged.

"Why are you so content?" Trunks questioned as they made it to the front door.

"It's my own fault. My choices were my own now I have to deal with it. Don't worry Trunks, we will be okay." Bulla smiled at her brother and he sighed. If he could count on anyone it would always be is sister.


	5. Chapter 5

(sorry for the delay in upload, it has been a rough couple weeks. My boss got fired so work has been stressful. But here it is, i hope you like it. Part of this chapter is censored so visit ao3 for the full chapter under the same name)

Chapter 5

"Can we talk about something?" Goku asked softly from the living room doorway as he gazed upon his wife who sat with her back to him.

"I really don't want to talk to you, but if you have something to say you may say it." Chi-Chi responded hoarsely.

Goku left the doorway and moved in front of her. She had been crying, he could easily tell by the redness in her eyes and nose. She had been crying for days he knew that for a fact. Goku sat in a chair across from her, he moved so that their knees were merely inches apart. He wanted to reach out to her, touch her leg, or grab her hand, some sort of physical reassurance that he had never provided to anyone else, but he knew from only a few hours prior that it would be a terrible idea to attempt to touch her. Goku examined his wife as she avoided eye contact with him. Her hair had begun to grey a few years back and her dark locks had been replaced with hair that seemed made of silver. Her body was weathered from all of the work she had done to raise his children and take care of him. Her once perfect skin had been replaced with much thinner, much paler skin. She had always been a strong woman but the last few years had seemed to wear on her, she had grown much thinner and seemed to be aging far too quickly. Chi-Chi was his wife, they had been married for almost 45 years and the only times he had seen her look this sad were upon his death. The pain he had put her through was equivalent to the pain she had felt when he died. This was three times in their 45 years together that he had broken her heart, she had always been so quick to forgive him and just glad he was around. Would she ever be able to forgive this.

"I don't know what to say at this point. I feel like I have said it all." Goku said softly. "Chi-Chi, I'm very sorry for what I have done to you."

"Sorry? You're sorry? Unfortunately that doesn't cut it this time Goku! This isn't something that you just apologize about and it goes away!" Finally making eye contact revealed a deeper anger than what she had been showing before.

"I know." Goku responded.

"Do you? Because all I have heard over the last few days is that, apologies."

"I don't know what else to do!" Goku defended.

"How about for once in your life you think through your actions before actually doing them!" Her voice was much weaker than it had been in the past. In general Chi-Chi just seemed frailer. Perhaps that was part of the reason he had chosen what he had. Goku himself wasn't entirely sure yet, but the greedy part of him did not want to stop.

"That's not fair." Goku said softly. "If I thought things through we probably wouldn't have gotten married so soon, or had Gohan so early."

"Oh so you are comparing us getting married and our Gohan to your perverted actions?" Chi-Chi asked aggressively.

"I didn't mean it like that!"

"But that's what you said!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Dammit Goku I told you to stop apologizing!" With this Chi-Chi rose clearly too riled up to continue this conversation.

"No!" Goku stood barring her path. "Sit down, we are going to work this out and I'm tired of tiptoeing around you so we are going to work this out now."

"What if I don't want to work it out?" Chi-Chi asked coolly.

"So you're just going to throw fourty-five years away?" Goku shouted back.

"I didn't throw it away, that was you when you cheated on me!" She protested.

"I'm sorry I hurt you!" Goku shouted back.

"But you're not sorry for having sex with someone else?"

"Honestly? No." Goku admitted.

"Why?" Chi-Chi asked on the verge of tears.

"Why what?" Goku asked rather confused.

"All of this, everything, why?" Chi-Chi asked obviously bracing herself for his response.

"Well…" Goku started before he stared deeply at her and took a long breath. "It's been a few years now but you no longer enjoy what we do in the bedroom. I can see it in your face when we are together like that, it hurts you. But you are always willing to endure it for me. I just…I didn't want to put you in any more pain." Goku said softly.

"That's a terrible excuse." Chi-Chi responded harshly.

"But it's the truth." Goku said wearily.

"Are you planning on continuing this?" She asked averting her eyes from him.

"Probably." Goku responded after a minute of internal struggle.

"I need time to think. Sleep in Goten's old room for now; I will let you know what I decide later." Chi-Chi responded before fleeing from his presence.

"You are full of terrible idea's Mr. Piccolo." Pan said snidely to the Namekian who sat on the ground in front of her. Pan had spent three days attempting to find or contact him and he had evaded her at every turn. But she had discovered when he was training, and he decided not to flee from her this time.

"Yeah what's new?" Piccolo asked waving for Pan to rest next to him.

"I assume you heard what happened?" Pan asked sitting.

"Yeah. Naturally I hear all the important things that happen, and your grandfather having sex with Trunks is apparently what Dende considers important, and of course the whole Gohan thing came up as well." Piccolo responded coarsely. "What I don't understand though, is why you are so upset."

"Why I'm upset? Why would I not be upset? Bulla was mine." Pan was shocked by Piccolo's quandary.

"The girl you weren't willing to spend time with was yours? Pan you are supposed to take care of what is yours, not lock it out of sight and demand it still be there when you've ignored it for years." Piccolo said bluntly.

"What do you mean by that?" Pan asked aggressively.

"I mean you did a shit job of showing her you cared." Piccolo responded.

"What do you even know about it?" Pan said with a scoff.

"I know plenty, I know how little time you spent with her. I have heard the harsh way you speak to her, as if she is slow or something." Piccolo shot back. "I have seen you leave that girl in tears due to your own insecurities. You have no claim on her, and your reaction to her finding someone who is willing to give her time and concern is childish."

"You're being unfair." Pan said softly not wanting to accept his words as truth.

"No, I'm being realistic. Your father was correct when he accused me of going easy on you but you are grown now so I am done protecting your feelings. For the first time in your life you need to be accountable for your own actions. You will never become a Super Saiyjin if you do not." Piccolo said fiercely.

"Now you are just being mean. I could become a Super Saiyjin if someone would teach me." Pan said snidely.

"If that were the case then just training with your father would have brought it out, you're not ready and you only have yourself to blame. When you get your head out of your ass call me and we can talk more, for now leave me." Piccolo said rather harshly before settling into his meditation state and blocking her out.

"Are you coming to dinner tonight?" Videl asked her daughter.

"No, I think I need to do some personal reflection." Pan responded.

"Oh honey I love you." Videl said softly before ending their phone call.

"Why are you here? I thought you divorced to get out of this family." Goten asked Videl as he entered the Son house.

Goten was of course joking, and the other could tell. She even smiled and gave him a little chuckle. Goten had been pleasantly surprised to see his ex-sister-in-law when he had arrived at his parents' house. Partially because he had grown fond of her over his brothers years of marriage, but also because her presence signified that his father must be somewhere else.

"I divorced to get away from the males in this family, your mother, however, is an angel." Videl teased exciting a sad laugh from Chi-Chi and an eye roll from Goten.

"I take it Gohan isn't coming to family dinner then?" Goten asked scanning the room.

"Well of course not I haven't invited him to dinner in months!" Chi-Chi exclaimed as though it should have been clear.

"Why not?" Videl asked surprised, this was news to her as well. At least once a month Videl had come over for the son family's traditional end of the week dinners, it had been a staple of their family life before Gohan and Videl had separated. Videl had assumed he had just coincidentally avoided the ones she had arrived for.

"Well I mean wouldn't it be so uncomfortable if he came and you had to see him?" Chi-Chi asked even though she didn't really leave it to be answered.

"But he's your son!" Videl protested.

"Well he made his bed and now he gets to lay in it." Chi-Chi said before standing and heading into the other room to use the phone.

It was in that moment that Videl realized the truth she had been trying to hide from herself. Everyone blamed Gohan for their divorce, and nobody had even asked her why they had divorced.

"You really didn't know she stopped inviting him?" Goten asked with a chuckle.

"No I didn't, it's not very fair to him Gohan didn't do anything wrong." Videl said softly guilt building in her chest.

"Yeah it was probably a week or two after she heard about the divorce where she announced loudly to all of us that Gohan wasn't welcome here anymore." Goten said with a shrug.

"But why?" Videl wanted to know the reason behind Chi-Chi's irrational choices.

"In her opinion he has failed as a person because he got a divorce." Goten said snidely. "And due to feeling that way about Gohan she will probably stay with my father forever."

"But it wasn't only his fault!" Videl protested.

"Yeah, but if you say anything now everybody will just think you are trying to protect him, y'know because of the Bulla thing." Goten said with a sigh.

"That's a shame too." Videl said rather distractedly almost as if she had drifted somewhere else. "I think she is really good for him."

They sat in silence for a moment both caught up in their own thoughts. Goten was surprised at Videl's claim, that Bulla was good for Gohan. He questioned if she really felt that way, or if she just wanted Gohan to be happy. Perhaps that was why she felt that Bulla was good for him, because for the first time in a long time Gohan was very happy. Goten had only seen him a handful of times over the past few months, but it had been evident even to him. Gohan had been happier, he had built a relationship with Pan and had been training more. He had been more of himself. Goten was surprised that Videl was able to see things so clearly. Videl's rationality of this situation secured in Goten the fact that the divorce was in fact not Gohan's fault, but more likely a mutual burden they had to bear.

"Okay that was your father, he should be home soon and then we can eat!" Chi-Chi exclaimed as she entered the room again.

"I thought he wasn't gonna be here?" Goten said his tension evident.

"Why would you think that?" Chi-Chi asked.

"Because I told you I didn't want to come over if he was going to be home, and you told me to come." Goten shot back.

"Goten you should really see your father." Chi-Chi protested.  
"No!" Goten shouted before standing and practically running out the front door.

"Well he's just being irrational." Chi-Chi said with a shrug.

"Really, no offense, but you are the one being irrational." Videl said cuttingly as she stood herself and followed Goten.

"Goten wait!" Videl shouted before Goten had a chance to depart.

"I don't wanna be here, so if you wanna talk just follow me." Goten said before he lifted himself off of the ground and headed into the trees. 

It had been a while since Videl had flown, but she caught back on quickly enough to follow him. They landed at an empty clearing where Goten sat and relaxed against a tree. He was visibly angry, and Videl was surprised that he hadn't chose to brush her off. Videl landed and sat next to him allowing a moment of silence for him to gather his thoughts.

"Goten honey, maybe you should talk to your brother." Videl said breaking the silence.

"You really think he's the best person to give me advice right now?" Goten asked snidely.

"Yes, I do." Videl answered

"Why?"

"Well, you have both been through a lot these past few months and could probably use it."

"I've never really talked to my brother about this kind of stuff." Goten said casting his gaze away from her.

"Well then you might be pleasantly surprised by talking to him." Videl suggested.

"But, he's changed ever since the divorce."

"Maybe his change was for the better?"

"Really? Because having a mental break and fucking someone half your age really doesn't signify better in my book."

"Oh that's taking it a little far, he didn't have a mental break."

"Seems pretty unstable to me."

"He's more stable than I have seen him for years." Videl responded softly.

"Really?" Goten asked with a slightly awed look on his face.

"Yeah, he seems stable and happy much more himself, much more like the Gohan I fell in love with."

"He seemed a lot happier, but I figured it was either a lot of sex, or a mental break."

"No, I think it's just Gohan." Videl said with a smile.

"Thanks Videl, I think I will take your advice." Goten said with a laugh.

They sat there for a time, not speaking simply just being. Neither wanted to leave, it was a peaceful place, a place that seemed intended for healing. Neither wanted to leave but as the night grew darker they knew it was for the best and parted their ways as better friends than they had been before. They left with a different understanding for each other.

"Well, you were the last person I expected to see at my front door." Gohan said smiling at his younger brother.

"That's irrational, I would definitely show up at your front door long before someone famous or someone cool." Goten said sarcastically before shoving his way past his brother and inside.

"Whatever." Gohan said rolling his eyes and closing the door behind his brother. "Any way, what's up?"

"Do you think we could talk, about things?" Goten asked sitting on the couch as he suddenly appeared distressed.

"Yeah, what things?" Gohan asked sitting down in the chair adjacent to him.

"You know, this wasn't the first time I've caught Trunks cheating on me. It just seems to be a thing he does. I thought I could accept it, and get over it. I mean it's natural to want sex right? And it's not too far out to believe that sometimes someone just wants something different." Goten said this all in a pained tone. "But, like he always said he loved me. I believed it, I had talked myself into believing it, but then I saw him with dad. It was then I realized that if he loved me he wouldn't hurt me, but dammit I just wanted him to love me."

Gohan had never seen his brother like this. One thing he had always admired about Goten was his ability to be happy in even the most bleak of situations, but that was not the Goten sitting in his living room. This was someone different, this was what years of insecurity had turned his brother into. Gohan wanted to soothe him, but was unsure of what to say.

"You know, there are definitely better looking guys out there than Trunks Breifs." Gohan said jokingly eliciting a sad laugh from his brother.

"It's not even about his looks though Gohan. I miss my best friend." His voice was sad and stirred up Gohan's own longing for a friend.

"Well, it doesn't sound like he was a very good friend." Gohan said with a shrug.

"Yeah, you are right there brother." Goten said softly.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Gohan asked.

"I don't know." Goten said staring at his clenched hands. "I don't know if I am ever going to be able to talk to either of them again. I want to be able to forgive them both because I know that is what is best for me. But, how do you forgive people for that? Like yeah he's my dad, but like it's not like he's been a good dad. He has always been gone more than around. Mom has pretty much been raising us alone most of our lives. Honestly I will probably be able to forgive Trunks long before I forgive that man we call father. But mom, she just defends him and expects everything to be ok. She's cutting off everyone because she thinks her way is the right way. She's wrong though. She always has been."

Gohan wanted to protest, he wanted to claim that their father was in fact a good father in some ways, but he couldn't find ways, and he couldn't think of examples. Goten was right, he had spent less time with their father than Gohan had and was not blinded to the truth. Gohan was seeing a little bit clearer now than he had before as well. He could see the failings in his father that led to Gohan's own failings as a father. Gohan felt bad for his brother having to go through this, it made him painfully aware of what he had put his own daughter through.

Goten's words told Gohan that he was not the only son their mother was being harsh to. Something must have happened, but Gohan was not really aware of the actions of his family at this time in his life.

"I'm sorry Goten, I wish I could say something to make it even a little bit better." Gohan knew that his words would make little difference, but he hoped they would make at least a little difference regardless.

"It's good; it's not your fault. I think this has actually been going on for a while; I just wasn't there to pay attention. I was working and going to school so that in the event that I was ever alone I could support myself. Now look, he doesn't have a job and has to mooch off of his sister." Goten smiled spitefully.

"Oh? Trunks moved in with Bulla? I didn't know that." Gohan said, in fact he hadn't heard anything about Bulla since she walked out of his apartment. Simply saying her name was sweet, almost like a reward. He missed her, and he was terrible at telling himself it would eventually pass.

"Yeah. Have you not been talking to her?" Goten seemed surprised when Gohan shrugged.

"I mean, would you be happy to hear that Trunks and Dad were still talking?" Gohan asked.

"It's not the same thing." Goten protested, he seemed to be a little heated about the conversation at this point.

"It really is if you think about it, Bulla and Pan and then I came in. You and Trunks and then…dad…" Gohan still couldn't picture what it might have been like to see that.

"Yeah but Pan and Bulla weren't and have never actually been together, and Pan has only herself to blame for that. You didn't take Bulla to bed knowing that she wasn't yours to take." Goten spat these words at Gohan. Gohan could tell that Goten was salting his own wounds, not purposely but he was still bringing things up he knew would hurt him. Memories, thoughts, feelings; these were truly the greatest weakness and strengths of the Saiyjin race.

"I honestly don't even know the full story there. Bulla never wanted to talk about it." Gohan said softly. No he had not known, or at least been sure of Bulla and Pan's situation, after the first time he had been with Bulla he had just assumed that they had broken up.

"Probably because there really isn't much of one, I mean like you know the backstory they grew up together have been friends decided they liked each other. But Pan didn't really seem to want anything but someone to have control over. Like as far as I am aware they haven't ever even been on a date. They have never been more than friends and that was all Pan's choice. So if she's mad it's probably more at herself than at you." Goten said with a shrug.

Gohan nodded, he had never expected his younger brother to be so jaded. As Gohan sat across from Goten he became acutely aware of exactly how much Goten had changed. There was no small sparkle of naïve joy that he had possessed his whole life. Had Trunks stolen it from him? Or was it simply the world as a whole?

"You can stay the night if you want." Gohan offered. "I don't have much room, but if you don't wanna go back there you can stay here. Anytime you don't wanna go back there."

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna go home soon, just not now." Goten said finally meeting Gohan's eyes. The look in them was deadly. "I think I've pushed past the sadness and now I'm really mad at both of them and I'm afraid of what I'll do while I'm this mad."

"Well a saiyjin can always eat, so how bout I make some food." Gohan offered standing up and placing his hand on his brother's shoulder firmly before heading to the kitchen to feed both of them.

"How about a drink too?" Goten shouted reaching for a backpack he had brought with him. Opening it up he revealed several bottles.

"Numbing my emotions with alcohol?" Gohan asked. "That's the best idea you have ever had dear brother."

"Gohaaan!" He heard his mother whine over the speaker.

"Hey mom what's up?" Goha asked rather surprised that she had called him. His mom hadn't spoken to him in four months. The first two had been easy he had Bulla as a distraction, but these last two had been hard and he really could have used her help.

"It's your father, and Goten. Goten never comes to see me anymore. Your father is always gone." Chi-Chi whined.

"Okay. What do you want from me?" Gohan asked knowing it was probably a lot.

"Well, can you go see if your father is staying with that briefs boy?" She asked meekly.

"No." Gohan answered almost too quickly.

"Well why not?"

"Because I don't want to go over there." Gohan declared.

"Well fine I see what kind of son you are, you won't even help your dear elderly mother with such a simple task." Chi-Chi announced dramatically. She had always been this way when trying to guilt him into things, and for years it had worked. But he knew he couldn't bring himself to go over to that apartment. He knew if he did it would hurt him. Whether it was seeing his father there, or just seeing Bulla, he knew pain would come from it and he didn't want more pain. The selfishness of what she had asked, and all of her actions the past three months, hell even the way she had always treated her sons, tonight it was too much.

"No mom!" Gohan shouted. He had never shouted at his mother before. "You weren't there when I needed you. When my wife left me and I was alone you banned me from your house and called me a failure. I needed you and you only cared for yourself. You have always been this way and I'm grown now and can see what you really are. You're selfish and I mean, I'll always love you but right now I really don't like you. Go cry to someone else about your unfaithful husband and disloyal son, you yourself are unfaithful and disloyal. You made us this way so honestly I don't care."

With a swift motion Gohan ended the call. He was fully aware of the damage his words would cause. He knew that he had just broken his mother's heart. But right now he didn't care, his heart had been breaking for a while now and she hadn't been there for him, she had even gone as far as to make it worse. She was his mother and she had abandoned him when he needed her most. Gohan wasn't sure he would ever heal from it or trust her again.

The worst part was that the conversation had led his mind to her. Bulla, he wanted to see her, he had wanted to see her since the last time he had spoken to her. The day she walked out of his front door and out of his life. He wondered often if she ever looked back, if she ever missed him. Gohan shook his head and rose examining his apartment. It had been a while since he had cleaned, the last time being the last time Goten had come over which had only actually been a few days. They had taken to drinking whenever Goten got sad, and Goten was always sad. But then lately so was Gohan. With a sigh Gohan began to pick up the half full liquor bottles and trash that littered his house.

Gohan stared at the bottles he had lined on his counter there were twelve of them and they were all more than half full. Gohan put eleven of them in his cupboards selecting a bottle of whisky to keep out to drown his demons today. Two shots saw Gohan becoming extremely anxious about the state of his apartment, resulting in an hour long deep clean of his kitchen alone. When he was done he had downed over half of what had been left in the bottle. Sitting in his chair Gohan looked around and sighed. He really missed coming home to Bulla. He really missed the energy she had brought into his home. Gohan pulled out his phone and dialed her number hesitating for only a moment before he hit the call button.

"Come over." Gohan demanded breathlessly. He had worked up a lot inside himself to make this call, and he knew that it was probably not a call she had wanted. His heart was racing, his palms were sweating and he felt as though his whole body was shaking in anticipation for an answer. He wasn't sure if it was his emotions or the alcohol at this point though.

It felt like hours of silence lay between them, in reality it was seconds. One, two, three seconds passed before Gohan decided that it had been a bad choice. Four, five seconds was all it took for Gohan give up and end the phone call.

Gohan stared at his phone for a moment. He had spent weeks trying to work up to that. He had allowed a month of time between them, a painful lonely month and all he had given her was a lousy five second phone call. For a moment he longed for her to arrive. He wanted nothing but for Bulla to decide to come back to him. But realism set in and Gohan realized that it was far too unlikely to hope for.

The almost immediate light knock on his front door made Gohan's heart skip a beat. Bulla? No, Gohan knew it was best not to get his hopes too high. Standing he stumbled to the door. For a moment he was sure he had himself under control, but the wave of disappointment that crashed into him when he opened the door told him different.

"Oh hey what's up?" Gohan asked with a small smile.

"Well geeze don't look too happy to see me." Videl responded rolling her eyes.

"I'm always happy to see you." Gohan said. He just would have been happier to see Bulla.

"Is this a bad time?" Videl asked looking worried.

"No not at all come in." Gohan said moving out of her way to allow her inside.

She was here for something. Gohan could tell just by the way she was carrying herself. He was anxious as to what and he saw that she seemed to be anxious too. Walking into the livingroom he motioned for her to sit on the couch where he joined her.

"What's up?" Gohan asked her knowingly.

"What on earth do you mean?" Videl asked flustered.

"I mean you came here for a reason. Just make it easier on both of us and tell me." Gohan said blandly.

"Well…" Videl said before she became very flushed and much more nervous. "I was wondering, well more like hoping that…maybe…"

"Just spit it out." Gohan said prodding.

"Will…will you make love to me again?" Videl asked finally averting her eyes from Gohan obviously embarrassed.

"What exactly are you asking for?" Gohan said after a moment of thought.

"N-not a lot, just sex." Videl stammered out. "I don't wanna get back together or anything, it's just been a while for me you know. And I mean it's like, I want to have sex but at my age I'm not just gonna go to a bar and let someone take me home. So I figured you might want to."

Gohan knew she was correct about the time. They had not been together for almost two years before the divorce, and if he was the only person she had been with then she had been unsatisfied for far too long. Gohan battled with himself for a moment while attempting to make a choice. He wanted to say yes, because he too was lonely. But a small part of himself reminded him that he was lonely for one person, a person he was almost sure didn't miss him. When they met eyes Gohan nodded, but he didn't speak because he felt like if he spoke he might just change his mind.

Bulla slowly pulled her phone away from her ear. She hadn't been expecting a call from Gohan and had tried to suppress the joy that threatened to bubble up when she saw his name on her phone. Gohan, it had been a month since she had seen him, damn her she missed him. Come over. That was what he had said, Bulla had no time to process his words let alone respond. Bulla sat on her bed for a moment staring at her phone unable to decide. Gohan wanted to see her, Gohan had called her and asked her to come over. Bulla knew that she wanted to see him, she missed him a lot but was unsure if she should.

A knock on the front door brought her out of her daze. She heard Trunks open and greet what was obviously his guest. When the visitor spoke Bulla tensed at the sound of his voice and decided that she no longer wanted to be in her apartment. Bulla quickly pulled a black jacket over her pajama's and donned slippers.

"Oh hey Bulla, how are ya?" Goku asked as Bulla made her way through the living room.

"I'm going out." She said making eye contact with Trunks that relayed her discomfort. She nodded to Goku before slipping out the door and heading out into the brisk fall evening.

Not in the mood to fly, and lacking true confidence in her choice Bulla chose to walk. Mostly to decide if it was really what she wanted. It was a calm evening and despite the cold Bulla got enjoyment in her quiet half hour walk. Half an hour, half an hour to get lost in her head with no interruptions. Bulla knew the route well, she had actually gotten a job at the café across the street from his apartment. She had done it so that she could see Gohan, even if he didn't see her. And she had, most days of the week she was getting off of work when he was getting home from work. Bulla put in a pair of headphones and pulled her hood tightly around her face to repel the chill in the air.

(part of the chapter is censored for full chapter visit archiveofourown where you can find it under the same name)

"Why are you here so late?" The hostess, Erin, asked as soon as Bulla stepped through the doors. Bulla smiled, Erin was a small Irish woman, her red hair was always in ponytails and Bulla often thought she looked like a doll. Erin even had a flawless Irish accent she used with her customers to charm them out of tips, though in reality the accent was all a show and disappeared as soon as customers were out of earshot.

"Well maybe I want yummy café food." Bulla shot back with an exaggerated eye roll.

"Looking like that? Oh honey you look more like you need a few drinks, and by a few I mean a whole damn bar." Erin said with a grin.

"Yeah, go to a bar in my jammies? I can already hear people asking me where my mommy is." Bulla said with a smile.

"I get off in ten minutes; I could be your mommy for the evening." Erin said excitedly.

"You know you just made me an offer I cannot refuse." Bulla said with a laugh.

Bulla had only ever been to a few bars, drinking had never really been something she wanted to do, but compared to those she felt more like she was in a club. The sheer amount of people was overwhelming, but with each shot she felt more and more like she was fading into the background out of sight, unassuming. Many people commented on her clothes but they were mostly comments about how comfortable she looks and how they wished they could trade her shoes because drinking in heels was tedious work.

"Bulla?" She heard her name shouted through the crowd. A quick scan of her surroundings revealed a long lost friend.

"Marron!" Bulla shouted waving eccentrically at the other.

"Oh my goodness I didn't expect to see you here." Marron said as soon as they met in the crowd. A quick but firm hug was shared between the two.

"Yeah, I didn't expect to see you here either. Are you moving home?" Bulla asked hopefully.

"No, I'm just here to do a two day workshop at the city center. We are here trying to teach people how to ranch and farm without impacting the local species." Marron said with a smile. Like her uncle she was very concerned with the wellbeing of wildlife and had chosen to make a career out of it, as an environmental lawyer.

"I wish I would have known." Bulla said.

"I didn't know until last night, it was kind of a last minute thing." Marron said with a chuckle.

"Well I guess coming out tonight was a good idea then." Bulla said with a grin.

After a quick introduction of her two friends Erin claimed she was done for the evening and left Bulla in Marron's capable hands.

Gohan didn't know when he had fallen asleep but the shrill ringtone of his phone made him wish he were still asleep. Gohan moved feeling an odd weight on his body, looking down he noticed that Videl was still in his arms. Memories came rushing forward of the events from earlier that evening, but the shrill second ring of his phone snapped him out of it. This one also woke Videl who raised herself up off of him allowing him to move for his phone. Gohan looked down at the unfamiliar number but something told him to answer it regardless. As he answered Videl turned the light on.

"Hello?" Gohan asked rubbing his eyes, his head pounding from a mixture of sudden light and a very bad hangover.

"Gohan?"

"Yeah this is him."

"Hey it's Marron, you know Krillin's daughter?" Marron said.

"Oh hey what's up?" Gohan asked surprised. He was fairly sure that he had never once spoken to the girl she had always been fairly shy.

"Hey uhm can you come down to the bar on 5th street?" She asked sounding anxious.

"Why?" Gohan asked.

"It's…well…it's Bulla. She's not hurt or anything, but…you should really just come here." Marron said tensely.

"Yeah, I'll be there real soon." Gohan said before hanging up his phone.

"What was that?" Videl asked softly from his futon.

"I'm going out, I don't know when I'm gonna be back so you should go home." Gohan said as he quickly dressed in a pair of jeans and a tee shirt. His tone made it rather clear that Videl leaving was not up for negotiation.

The bar was not far but Gohan felt as though he had made it in record time. He immediately saw her at the bar pounding shot after shot accompanied by a distressed Marron. Without hesitation Gohan shoved his way through the crowd to get to them.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Gohan shouted over the music, grabbing Bulla's wrist.

"Don't touch me." Bulla shouted back jerking away from him and stumbling backwards.

"Bulla come on, you can barely walk it's time to be done." Gohan said through clenched teeth.

"I'm trying to be done! Why do you think I'm here? Cuz I'm done Gohan, I'm done feeling for tonight and hopefully many nights to come, I'm done." Bulla said with a rather cynical laugh.

"It's time to leave." Gohan growled.

"You don't get to tell me what to do. You're not my daddy." Bulla said causing herself to giggle uncontrollably.

"Yeah, well if you don't get outside this damn bar right now I just might call your daddy." Gohan threatened.

"What's he gonna do? He already ostracized us, he doesn't give a fuck about Trunks or me and he never has." Bulla shouted.

"Bulla really honey, I think you need some air." Marron said softly.

At that sound of her voice Bulla seemed to calm. She nodded before becoming pale and practically bolting out a side door.

"Not again." Marron muttered fondly before they both followed her outside.

"I'm sorry." Marron said softly as her and Gohan watched Bulla vomit against the side of the building.

"Don't worry about it." Gohan said with a shrug. "What happened anyway?"

"Well, she was already a few shots in when we ran into each other, but she was fine really happy. Her friend she came with had to leave, but I was really happy to see Bulla and Bulla wanted to stay a little longer so I told her I would take care of Bulla. Then I don't know how many shots and drinks later, but she just got really mad and then really sad and then really mad again. She was in pretty much the same state she is in now when I called you. I offered to take her home, but she said she didn't want to go home. I asked her where she wanted to go and she said she couldn't remember but that you knew." Marron relayed, she was in a much clearer state than Bulla.

"I guess it was a good thing you were here then huh." Gohan said softly racing through the horrible things that might have happened to her if she had been alone.

"She seems a little more sober now, I can take her home." Marron offered.

"No, it's ok. Didn't she say she didn't want to go home?" Gohan asked.

"Yeah, she said you knew where she wanted to go." Marron shrugged.

"Yeah, don't worry I've got this, I'm gonna go throw her in a river or something to sober her up first and wash that vomit off of her." Gohan said a little too enthusiastically.

"Well, I mean I guess I should just trust you. Bulla does after all." Marron smiled.

Something about her tone revealed that there was likely something Marron was keeping from him but he decided to leave it alone. Right now he had to get a drunken girl home without people thinking he was kidnapping her, even though he pretty much was. With a quick goodbye to Bulla Marron departed leaving Gohan with a very drunk and agitated Bulla. He walked over to her, fully prepared for the shouts and blows he received from her when he lifted her over his shoulder and struggled to take her back to his apartment.

"What the fuck were you thinking?" Gohan asked dropping her on the floor of his living room where she struggled to her feet.

"I was thinking about having fun. Why the hell is it your business anyway?" Bulla slurred out, obviously still inebriated.

"I had to come pick you up from the bar Bulla!" Gohan shouted.

"You didn't have to do anything!" Bulla argued as she swayed in place.

"Really cuz Marron was pretty sure you would refuse to leave with anyone but me." Gohan argued.

"Well Marron, oh that sweet angel lady, should have known I was joking." Bulla said drawling out the last part clearly coming up with it on the spot.

"Stop lying to me!" Gohan growled.

"Stop telling me what to do as I said earlier you are not my daddy!" Bulla shouted.

"Sure fucking feels like it right now." Gohan grumbled.

"Well, fuck you I'm going home." Bulla muttered attempting to walk around him but instead stumbling into the wall.

"You can't even walk how do you intend to go home." Gohan asked crossing his arms.

"I mean, I can fly you know." Bulla muttered.

"Oh yes, drunk flying, the half-saiyjin equivalent of drunk driving very safe." Gohan said condescendingly.

"I'm not staying here." Bulla said attempting again to walk but only managing to fall into Gohan.

"Yes." Gohan said as he caught her. "You are."

"No I don't wanna." Bulla protested trying to struggle away from him.

"Then why did you have Marron call me?" Gohan questioned allowing her to move away from him.

"So I could tell you that I hate you!" Bulla spat back.

"You don't mean that." Gohan argued trying to maintain composure even though her words cut him deeply.

"Yes I do!" Bulla declared.

"Why?" Gohan asked knowing that he was very unlikely to get a real answer from her, but more like a drunken monolauge.

"Because you're mean to me." Bulla muttered.

"When have I ever been mean to you?" Gohan protested.

"I don't wanna talk about it." Bulla said suddenly losing her enthusiasm in the argument.

"Why?" Gohan asked heated.

"No." Bulla protested angrily.

"Why?" Gohan wasn't backing down.

"No."

"Is that because you don't have a good excuse for being rude to me?" Gohan asked haughtily.

"Why did you call me?" Bulla asked her question catching him of guard.

"I…" Gohan started on for her to cut him off.

"Why did you call me and tell me to come over? Why did you give me any impression that you wanted to see me if it wasn't so?" Bulla asked meeting his gaze. Her eyes were clearer and Gohan could tell that she was sobering up.

"I…I did want to see you." Gohan said softly slightly taken aback.

"Really? Then why less than an hour later, when I showed up, did you have another woman in your arms?" Bulla asked bluntly.

"I…" Gohan stammered taken aback. He had no clue that she had come by, he was fairly surprised. "How..."

"You should close your curtains." Bulla said before she finally made her way around him and headed towards the door.

"Stop." Gohan said grabbing her arm. "You're not leaving."

"I am not staying here. I don't want to see you. I hate you." Bulla argued attempting to get free.

"No, if you hated me you wouldn't have been asking for me." Gohan said. "So tell me the truth."

"Fine. But first you have to let me go." Bulla said softly.

With this Gohan released his grip on her, sure that she would attempt to flee, but she didn't. She didn't speak either leaving an empty feeling in the air. Gohan took it upon himself to break the silence.

"I…I didn't think you were going to come." Gohan said meekly. "I figured you didn't want to see me, or I got the beginning of your voicemail or something. So when she showed up and…uh…offered I didn't see a reason to say no."

"You saw me!" Bulla declared. "We literally made eye contact!"

"I…I thought I was imagining you." He said.

"Excuses." Bulla muttered. She was struggling, she knew she shouldn't be upset it wasn't like they were anything. But seeing him with someone else, so blatantly having sex with someone else had been hurtful. But she had no authority on which to be hurt, she had no claim on him.

"I'm serious." Gohan said throwing his hands up.

"Honestly, I don't really care right now. I really just want my feelings to go away. I was doing really well for a minute, then you showed up." Bulla grumbled wrapping her arms around herself.

"Fine, how about this. You want to drink, lets fucking drink. I've actually gotten pretty fond of it this past month." Gohan announced storming into the kitchen and slamming open his cupboard. He pulled down two bottles and handed one to her. "Cheers." He said before opening the bottle and slamming back a very generous shot.

"Cheers." Bulla said before taking her own shot and heading to the living room with her alcohol making sure to avoid the chair she had seen them in earlier.

Gohan noticed, and it hurt. He had been sure she wouldn't come, maybe he had just been very drunk. He had thought he had imagined her, but here she was in front of him. Torn to pieces because of him, a very sad looking angel. He wanted to take that sadness away, he wanted to be the reason behind her smile. Gohan took another shot before following her to the living room where they sat at opposite ends of the couch quietly drinking. Several more drinks in and Bulla moved next to him, the alcohol dissolving her resolve. Gohan was glad though, he had wanted her near, all in all he just wanted her. Gohan put down his drink and pulled her into his lap with her back against him. He moved his hands to her thighs and rubbed them through her pants. This rewarded him a sigh and a small moan. Taking this as a good sign Gohan kissed the back of her neck.

"Stop." Bulla protested half-heartedly.

"You don't want that." Gohan muttered into her neck.

"Y-yes I do." Bulla declared, her resistance wavering.

"Mhmm, say it one more time and I'll believe it." Gohan whispered into her ear as he moved his hand further up her thigh.

"Stop!" Bulla declared, very loudly.

"Ok." Gohan said shocked, her voice had kicked him out of any daze the alcohol had him in. He grabbed her by the hips and moved her off of his lap back on to the couch next to him.

"I…I know I have no claim on you. I understand that I really have no right to be upset." Bulla said after a long pause, her voice cracking slightly. "But I do have a say on what I allow to happen to my body and my heart."

"Bulla…" Gohan started.

"No dammit let me talk." Bulla cut him off. "I want you, and I want to be with you. I want to go back to how things were a month ago. I want to go back before anybody knew, back when it was so easy. But that's never going to happen."


	6. Chapter 6

*tap tap tap* The sound of someone knocking on his front door brought Goten out of his sleep. He groaned rolling off of his couch and standing up. He hadn't been able to sleep in his bed since Trunks left. The tapping persisted. Goten checked his phone, who the hell was here at 2am? Probably Trunks again, he really was not in the mood for that.

"I don't want to talk to you, go away!" Goten yelled at his front door.

"I'm not Trunks." He heard a sweet voice holler back. A voice he hadn't heard in far too long.

"Marron?" Goten asked racing to open his door.

"The one and only." She said as he opened the door. "Do you still not wanna talk to me?"

"No sorry, I'm just used to Trunks banging on my door at all hours of the night." Goten responded softly welcoming her in.  
"That must be trying." Marron said as she stepped inside.

"You have no idea. But forget about that. What are you doing here?" Goten asked. "I'm really happy to see you."

"Work stuff." Marron said with a shrug before she decided to make herself at home on his couch. "I knew you would be. I missed you."

Goten laughed as he took a seat next to her sitting sideways on the couch so that he could see her clearly. He was not sure how many years it had been since he had seen her but he could tell that she had changed. Not just physically, but the very air around her was different and yet she was still the same. Physically she had finally had a growth spurt and was now roughly the height of her mother. She had also become more feminine, her broad shoulders had slimmed out and her muscle had become leaner. She had allowed her bright hair to grow and she currently wore it in a tight braid down her back. She was wearing a black blouse and a very short black skirt her clothes emphasized every curve she had grown into over the past years. She had really grown into herself. Looking at her took him back to simpler times when all he was worried about was getting out of homework so that he could go spend time with Trunks and Marron. They had all become close after spending time together during the tournament that their fathers had all gone to. They had been an inseparable trio.

"Man look at how time has changed things." Goten said softly. "You look really nice."

"I guess the more things change the more they stay the same right?" Marron said with a playful wink and a laugh.

"Oh yeah?" Goten asked leaning back against the arm of his couch.

"Yeah, you're still you, I'm still me, and Trunks is still putting you through the wringer." Marron declared.

"Shit has it always been like this?" Goten asked surprised.

"The whole time." Marron said with a nod.

"Damn, I wish I would have noticed it sooner." Goten said ruefully.

"I told you I liked you better." Marron said throwing her hands up.

"If only I could go back in time and make different choices." Goten said softly.

He remembered that conversation fondly, as well as the crush Marron had tried to hide from them. He remembered everything about her fondly. Goten remembered sitting with her, waiting on Trunks to finish his college class late at night. He remembered her being there every time Trunks cancelled on him for something more important to him. Goten remembered kissing her because she wouldn't stop making fun of him for liking Trunks and calling him gay. Goten remembered more, he remembered butterflies and anxiety. Red lipstick and that college parking lot, blood and sweat, and tears a lot of tears and regret. Shouting, harsh words and accusations.

"Or you could just make better choices from now on." Marron offered.  
"What do you mean by that?" Goten asked as her words brought him out of his mind.

"It's like I said Goten," Marron said her voice getting low, "the more things change the more they stay the same."

"I-is that still the same?" Goten asked breathlessly.

"Do you want it to be?" The look she shot him made his heart rate double.

"I would be lying if I said no." Goten mumbled.

"I sense a but in there somewhere." Marron said softly with a friendly smile.

"But, I don't even know what I need right now Marron. I still cry myself to sleep every night thinking about him." Goten said hoarsely. "I want comfort, and god knows that I don't have it in me to deny any comfort you want to offer, but I can't guarantee I won't hurt you again."

"I'm not really in a place to be hurt right now Goten." Marron responded. "I think I've prepared myself for worse than you can give me."

"What does that even mean? Why do you speak in riddles woman?" Goten asked with a chuckle.

"It means…give me your worst tonight, and I'll give you my best. And tomorrow night when I go back home we will both be a little more at peace." Marron said moving closer to him.  
"Have you been drinking?" Goten asked as he caught the scent of alcohol on her.

"All night." Marron said with a smile. "You know they call it liquid courage for a reason right?"

"You sure you aren't going to regret this in the morning?" Goten asked softly as he reached for her.

"I'll only regret if it doesn't happen." Marron said softly as his hands made contact with her hips. "That is I mean, if a woman is acceptable."

"I thought I proved to you long ago that I'm not gay." Goten said huskily as he pulled her on to his lap.

"Mmm, you have? You will have to remind me I guess." She mumbled.

"Don't worry I will." Goten said softly.

It had been a month since Goten had touched someone like this, two months since he had last had sex, but this would be different. Trunks had never let him be on top. Their whole relationship Goten had submitted. But tonight it wasn't like that, it had never been like that with Marron. She had always been his friend and she was always the type to give in order to make someone else happy. And damn him but tonight he was going to selfishly take anything she was willing to give. The feeling of her soft skin drove him crazy as he ran his hands under her shirt and up her sides. His touch made her shiver. He could feel her heartbeat through her skin and in the air. She must be as nervous and excited as him.

"You sure you want this?" Goten asked softly.

"I've always wanted this." She responded. "Please."

"Okay." Goten said with a nod before he reached his hand around to undo her braid.

He took his time to carefully free her thick tresses. When he was done a waterfall of gold covered Marron down to her hips. Suddenly Goten wanted to see her covered only by her hair. Goten moved his hand to the crown of her head and pulled her towards him causing their lips to meet. She melted willingly into him, she gave no resistance or attempt to control the situation. Her actions, or more lack thereof only made him want her more. Goten let go of her hair and his hands drifted back to her sides, he pulled her close to him as he coaxed her lips to part with his tongue. Marron playfully resisted his tongue but soon gave in and allowed him to kiss her. They had kissed before as teenagers, there had been dares at parties and playful experimentation, and all those times waiting for Trunks back when they were all just friends back when things were easier. But this kiss was different. It was filled with a long contained desire and a desperate need.

Goten knew why he needed this, but he wondered what Marron was getting out of it. She wouldn't have come to him like this if there was not something more going on. If she had wanted to talk about it she would have, so Goten pushed his worries aside and kissed her fervently. The taste of her lips hadn't really changed, she still tasted like honey but now it was much thicker than it had been all those years ago. Her scent and her taste intoxicated him, taking him to a place he hadn't been in a while, a comfortable, safe place. Goten wrapped an arm around her and gently changed their position so that she was on her back instead of on his lap.

(This part of the chapter is omitted for smut you can read the full chapter on archive of our own)

"See." Goten said as he pulled out of her. "I told you I wasn't gay."

"Yeah well you're still a faggot." Marron said with a laugh shoving him away and sitting up.

"Are you leaving?" Goten asked softly.

"Well, I have a hotel room." She replied.

"You should stay." Goten begged.

"I shouldn't." Marron muttered. It really would be a mistake to stay.

"Please? It's not like we even ever see each other…" Goten said softly.

"Okay." Marron said softly before he pulled her into his chest and held her for the rest of the night watching the moonlight, and then the light from the sunrise dancing along her pale skin. As the sun rose Goten drifted off to sleep and Marron slipped out undetected.

"Why not?" Gohan demanded from Bulla.

"Because we don't want the same thing." Bulla answered quietly.

"How do you know?" He questioned.

"Because I know you don't want what I want." Bulla stated.

"How do you know?"

"Because I saw you fucking someone else!" Bulla shouted. "If you wanted what I wanted then you wouldn't have done that!"

"You know it would be easier for me to give you what you wanted if you just told me what you wanted."

"You, goddammit Gohan. I want you, I want you to be mine and nobody else's." Bulla said her voice cracking as she spoke.

"Bulla." He said softly reaching for her, but Bulla shrugged his touch off.

"I just want all these things I shouldn't." Bulla said softly wiping tears away from her eyes.

"Why do you think it's not ok to want this?" Gohan asked softly.

"Because it's all just stupid fantasies that will never come true." Bulla muttered.

"That's not true." Gohan said earnestly.

"Really?" There was hope behind the tears that were filling her eyes.

"Come here." Gohan said reaching for her once more, this time she allowed him to pull her into his arms. "I know I hurt you, I'm sorry. But if it's me you want, you can have me I'll give you everything I have left in me."

Bulla did not respond but Gohan felt her soften in his arms. After a few moments he felt her begin to shake, looking down he saw the tears rolling down her cheeks while she cried silently. Gohan chose to not interrupt her, instead he held her, stroked her hair and wiped her tears away. He allowed her to release all of her negative feelings. As time passed her tears stopped and so did the shaking. She was still her blue eyes clear and wide open. Her cheeks and nose bright red from crying.

"Bulla." He said finally causing her to look up at him. "You are the only person I want. So if you still want it, can we work on this whole…us thing?"

"I…I think so." Bulla said softly before smiling. "Yeah let's do that."

"Okay." Gohan said tightening his arms around her. They spent the rest of the night like that, simply laying there watching the skyline through the living room, but both were long asleep before the red sunrise lit the sky.

This morning was different, Pan woke early this morning. It must have been something in the air because the world was alive as Pan trekked through the dense forest. Pan came upon a large stream and followed it to the river that it branched from which Pan then followed to the base of a large waterfall. As she approached the base the sun rose over the top dying the water red. Today was different, she could feel it. Today she would become herself for probably the first time in her life. She had not gone to the tournament they had planned to go to. She had not shown her face to anyone for the last month. She knew her mother was worried, many people were worried. But Pan was not. Pan knew exactly what she was doing. She was stepping back, out of the world and finding herself, and today was the day she could feel it.

Pan dropped her supplies behind the waterfall and climbed to the top. She had determined to do this without using her ki, instead she was doing it by sure strength of will. When she reached the top her muscles were burning, it was a feeling she truly enjoyed. Standing at the peak of the waterfall Pan took a refreshing breath. It cooled her burning body and allowed her to regain her focus. Pan waded to the center of the river and closed her eyes allowing herself to focus on the current of the river. She could feel where the river had come from and where it was going. She allowed her heart to slow as she reached peace. The fish swam around her as if she were a boulder in the water. She was part of the river, part of nature, part of earth, part of herself.

It was time, and she knew it. It was time to relax, time to move on, time to forgive herself and time to live in peace. No longer was she going to fight with herself, she was going to live. She was willing now to see where she failed and work on being the best possible person she could be, it was going to be a long road. She understood now when her father and Piccolo told her she wasn't ready, because she hadn't been. She had been impatient, and angry. Now she was sure, sure of herself and sure she was ready.

As she stood there a new sensation began to course through her body. It was hot, but not hot like fire the heat was full of an electrical energy. She felt it jumping between her cells as it filled her body to an overflow. Pan felt the heat as though it were escaping through the very pores of her skin enveloping her, making her skin hot. She felt the air around her cracking. The heat in her stomach changed, it felt like the heat of rage, but she wasn't mad she was actually perfectly at peace. But the heat overwhelmed her quickly covering the electricity and dulling her awareness. It shook through her knocking her very atoms around as it did. This heat hurt as it burst forth causing her to let out a shout of pain, a shout that developed into a full on scream, a scream that didn't seem to have an end, a scream that hurt almost as much as the heat. She wailed until she was out of breath and then beyond. White dots began to assault her closed eyes leading her to believe she was close to passing out. The white covered her vision, but instead of losing consciousness the heat simply left her. She could feel her ki coursing through her and hear lightning crack around her. Opening her eyes her vision was hued in a bright yellow. She had done it, she had gone super saiyjin. This brought her an even greater sense of peace within herself, the thing she had been trying to reach so long was hers but with it she had gained much more wisdom.

"How did you do that?" A deep voice asked from behind her.

"How long have you been watching me?" Pan asked turning to face Piccolo.

"The whole month, I wasn't going to let you wander out here alone." Piccolo defended. "Now you answer my question. How did you do that?"

"What? Become Super Saiyjin? I'm not sure, I guess I was just ready." Pan said with a shrug.

"You aren't a Super Saiyjin." Piccolo said.

"W-what?"

"From what it looks like you completely skipped Super Saiyjin and became a Super Saiyjin 2." Piccolo said. "The lightning should have been your first hint."

"What?" Pan exclaimed, but before she could say or even think anything else her vision began to blur and fade, the peace left with Pan's consciousness.

Piccolo caught Pan as her transformation faded and she fell forward. She had over done it, mentally she was more than ready but in order to use that transformation in some sort of constructive way she would need to become much more used to it. Lifting her to his chest Piccolo smiled, she had grown a lot in the last month she was growing a lot lately. A small tinge of sadness filled him at the thought of her growing. It felt like only days before he was coaxing her out of crying over fallen ice cream, or because a cat ran away from her. She was no longer a child, she was a grown woman now an adult. A different sadness filled him, the realization that someday soon Pan would go on to having a spouse and a family and Piccolo would no longer be the one at her side. This pain was a feeling he had never felt before, he wasn't sure how to describe it but he longed for it to stop. He tightened his arms around the unconscious Pan and held her closer to him before he lifted them off the ground, it was probably best to take her somewhere safe to recover so he departed.


	7. Chapter 7

Marron tried to enter the hotel room quietly so as not to wake him up, but it was obvious he hadn't slept. She didn't know why she had expected him to be asleep, he always stayed up for her. But then she had never been out this late before, she had actually never been out, at least not since they had started dating. The hotel room was a mess, pillows seemed to have been thrown around the TV was off and the curtains were open showing a magnificent view of the city bathed in receding moonlight. He was sitting with his back to her, but he still knew she was there. Leif was not only her co-worker, but he was also her boyfriend of three years. They had met shortly after her last visit home at a work Christmas party.

"Where have you been?" He asked as the door shut behind her.

"I went out, I told you I was going out." Marron said softly.

"The bars close at two, it's seven." She could hear the anxiety in his voice at she looked at the soft red hair that covered his head.

"I went to see a friend." Marron muttered.

"A friend, or the guy you were in love with in high school?" With these words he stood to face her. His green eyes met hers. They were reddened from lack of sleep and she could only assume crying. He crossed his arms over his thin chest. He was a tall slender man, he didn't work out much aside from hiking. He usually wore the black glasses that were currently on the bedside table.

"H..He is my friend." Marron stammered.

"What kind of friend do you ignore for three years and then go stay the night with?" Leif asked cynically. He had never spoken to her like this, and she was not sure what to say or do.

"He was my best friend." Marron responded meekly.

"Dammit Marron why do you have to be so damn impulsive?" Leif said raising his voice a little.

"It wasn't an impulse." Marron said in a flat tone, her attitude suddenly changing.

"So you are saying that you have been planning on cheating on me?" He asked.

"That's not what I said." Marron growled. "Don't twist my words."

"Then please, for once will you just be clear with what you mean." He asked harshly.

"It's just, I've been thinking about a lot of things lately." Marron said walking towards him.

"Like what?" It was clear he didn't really care.

"Like my life, and where I'm at. Where I thought I would be at. Us. Whether or not it's us." Marron said still being extremely vague.

"And that led to you going out and having sex with another guy?" Leif asked.

"I'm sorry." Marron said softly, she couldn't think of anything else to say. She had no words that would make it better.

"Why did you do it though?" Leif asked sitting on the bed, it was obvious he was working to compose himself.

"Because, I needed to let him go before I could accept it." Marron responded walking over and sitting next to him.

"Accept what?" His voice cracked allowing his sadness to show.

"That it is us." Marron said softly. "That he wasn't my future. I spent so many years imagining spending my life with him. But now, I have someone else I want to spend my life with. I guess I just needed to put those fantasies to rest. "

"Are they at rest now?" Their eyes met, he was tense, so was she.

"Yeah." Marron said with after a moment of silence.

His relief was evident in the air. His whole body seemed to relax. But there was still turmoil inside him. Marron could tell. It was still in his eyes, it was hidden beneath his relieved smile. Leif stood and looked down at her, his green eyes piercing through her skin. There were so many emotions behind that gaze, she was sure he was mad, and hurt. He had every right to be, but what would happen now that he had those feelings? He tucked his hand in her long hair and placed a soft kiss on Marron's forehead before he slipped away and headed to the bathroom leaving Marron sitting on the hotel bed they should have shared the night before.

"Hey are you awake?" Goten asked.

"Obviously how else would I have answered your call?" Gohan asked sitting up.

His phone had gone off moments before waking both him and Bulla from their uncomfortable nap on his couch. As he had picked up the phone Bulla headed out of the room and Gohan heard her turn the shower on.

"Well I mean this is like the 5th time I've called you." Goten said snidely.

"Well….I'm awake now obviously." Gohan shot back.

"What are you doing?" Goten asked adamantly.

"Well I was sleeping." Gohan said.

"I mean now that you are awake."

"Is going back to sleep an option?" Gohan asked.

"No, we need to talk."

"Well we are talking…right now."

"That's not what I mean." Goten said agitated. "We really need to talk. Like as soon as possible."

"Well, then come over." Gohan said. "I'm far too hung over to go anywhere." Gohan muttered.

"Ok. I'll be there soon." Goten said before ending the call.

Gohan groaned and rubbed his neck. The shower turned off. Bulla exited the bathroom in a towel, water dripping from her thick hair. This made Gohan groan in a different reason. Bulla's eyes shot to him and she rolled them.

"Perv." She muttered.

"It's your damn fault Bulla Briefs." Gohan said. "I would have been fine sad single and celibate, but then you showed up."

"You're still single." Bulla said before heading into his bedroom. "I'm stealing your clothes."

"Do whatever you want." Gohan said relaxing back into his couch with a soft smile. Sure he was single, but he wasn't sad. Bulla was back in his apartment, wearing his clothes, letting him hold her again.

"Hey." Bulla said walking out of his room in one of his t-shirts and a pair of sweats.

"Hey." Gohan responded.

"Can I come back again tonight?" Bulla asked.

"You're leaving?" Gohan asked surprised.

"Yeah I have to work in a couple hours and all of my stuff is at home, I have to go get ready." Bulla said.

"You're working?" Gohan asked just as surprised.  
"Gotta pay rent." Bulla said with a shrug.

"You could come live with me. Then you won't have to pay for anything." Gohan said softly.

"Honey, you don't make nearly enough to support two people and buy my makeup. Plus I like having my own place." Bulla said with a smile.

"Ah you're right." Gohan said with a laugh.

"So? Are you gonna answer my question?" Bulla asked.

"Bulla you are always welcome in my home." Gohan smiled. It hadn't felt like a home with her gone.

"Cool. Well I'll see you later then. Probably around eight." Bulla said before slipping on her shoes and leaving.

Gohan watched her leave before he headed to the bathroom. Her clothes from the night before were spread across the bathroom floor. He feared for what her apartment might look like. Gohan picked them up and threw them in the laundry hamper that was only a few feet from where she had thrown them on the floor. He laughed as he realized that she had worn pajamas to the bar. It was definitely something he would expect from her. She had also failed to return the towel to the bathroom.

Gohan retrieved the towel from his room. The towel smelled like her, his whole apartment smelled like her. He had missed it, he had missed her and how comfortable she made him feel.

Gohan had taken a shower and dressed long before his brother arrived. Goten did not knock he simply came in looking rather flustered. He locked the door behind him and quickly began inspecting the apartment.

"What's up bro?" Gohan asked cautiously due to his brother's erratic and rather frantic behavior.

"Are we alone?" Goten asked.

"Yea?" Gohan responded. "Why?"

"I had sex last night." Goten said staring at his brother looking rather worried.

"And? You've had sex before." Gohan reminded him.

"No." Goten said shaking his head frantically.

"No?" Gohan asked confused.

"I had sex with Marron." Goten said.

"Oh shit." Gohan muttered. "You had sex with a woman."

"Yes, but more importantly, I had sex with Marron." Goten said. "I haven't seen her in like three years, we haven't really even talked since high school, then she just shows up to my apartment drunk. And then we had sex."

"Sit down." Gohan said softly. It was obvious his brother was having a mild panic attack. Goten complied and sat in the chair.

"I didn't use a condom and I definitely didn't pull out how active do you think saiyjin sperm is what if she gets pregnant I don't even know Gohan." Goten rambled not stopping to breath until he was out of breath.

"Hey breathe buddy." Gohan said placing a hand on his brother's shoulder. Goten had not always been like this, somewhere around the start of high school he had developed terrible anxiety. Gohan had always assumed it was due to Trunks.

"I don't know what to do!" Goten responded. "I am freaking out."

"I know." Gohan said. "It's gonna be ok."

"No." Goten said softly. "I have a really messed up feeling about this whole situation."

Gohan wanted to soothe his sibling but usually when Goten had a bad feeling he was correct. Gohan grabbed his brother's hand and simply held it for a while. It was really all he could do. He wasn't sure how much time passed nor did he care. They simply sat together in silence providing each other with unbiased support for whatever was going on in their heads.

No calls, no texts and absolutely no contact of any kind. It had been a week and she still hadn't heard from Gohan. She wanted to call him but was unsure after the way he told her to leave. Perhaps she had wanted more than sex but just hadn't wanted to admit it. On top of that it had been just as long since she had heard from Pan. Pan had been training for a month but she always made sure to let Videl know how she was at least every other day, but it had been much longer.

She was a ball of nerves, that was why she had gone to Gohan, she had been hoping that he would help her de-stress. It had worked until they had woken up and he told her to leave as he himself ran off to something more important. Part of her wondered if it was Bulla. No! Gohan had said he was not speaking to her, Goten had as well. She had spoken to both of them many times over the past month and both of them said the same thing. So what then? She really wanted to know.

"Hey mom." Pan said breaking her out of her trance.

"Yeah?" Videl responded turning to face her daughter.

"You wanna run downtown with me? I have wanted go ask dad something, but I really don't wanna go alone."

"Oh yea, that would be fine." Videl responded. This would give her a chance to see Gohan, and perhaps figure out what was going on. "I just need to change, it's getting cold outside."

"Hey Bulla, what table are you on?" Erin asked walking up to where Bulla was plating up desserts.

"I'm on table 5 and then I have to go refill table 6's drinks. Why?" Bulla asked looking over at her co-worker.

"Uhm there was someone up front who wanted to talk to you. I was gonna cover for you." Erin said with a shrug.  
"Who?" Bulla asked, she was sure Trunks was the only person who knew where she worked.

"Pan." Erin said tensely. She had spoken of her first love to Erin before the good and the bad. She had of course left the sex with Pan's father out of it.

Bulla didn't think twice. She nodded to Erin and made her way up front. It had been months since she had seen Pan, let alone talk to her. Her heart raced as she thought of why Pan was here. What did she want to talk about? Suddenly Bulla stopped, she was afraid of something bad. She didn't know what though. She didn't want to leave this conversation with Pan stressed out, she didn't want there to be pain between them anymore. She missed her friend. She started again and walked out to the lobby. Their eyes met, black and blue, for the first time in months. Both gazes were tense and filled with insecurity, but after a moment it seemed to melt into happiness. Pan had missed her too, Pan had been anxious about this meeting too, Pan was still her friend. She had changed, Bulla noticed, in a very good way. Her hair was longer than it had been for a long time, now it reached past her shoulders. There was a soft glow to her skin, one of happiness. Pan motioned for her to follow and headed outside.

When the air hit her skin Bulla suddenly remembered that it was winter and in fact only a few days from Christmas. She shivered slightly deciding she should have grabbed her jacket, but it was in the break room and she was sure she wouldn't be gone long. Pan however was fully dressed for the weather; she had on a thick pair of black sweatpants and a black hoodie covered by a black jacket. Pan led her around the side of the building. When she noticed Bulla shiver she chuckled and took off her jacket wrapping it around Bulla. They stood tense for a moment, neither wanting to talk first but their eyes were locked. It was almost as if they were reassuring each other that it was ok simply from a gaze.

"Are you...ok?" Pan asked softly finally breaking the silence. "You don't really look yourself."

"I…I haven't really been ok for a while." Bulla responded softly, she couldn't bring herself to lie to Pan about this. "But I think I'm going to be ok."

"Are you…" Pan trailed off leaving a question they both wanted to know the answer to hanging in the air.

"I honestly don't know what's going on right now." Bulla responded.

"But you're not…not?" Pan asked softly.

"Yeah." Bulla confirmed. They were definitely talking about Gohan.

"Well…" Pan said. "It's been a really long month. I've spent a lot of time by myself, well mostly by myself. But I have also thought a lot. And you know…I'm ok with it. I'm learning not to hurt myself with all these bad thoughts, and I mean like what really happened? We have known each other forever… it's normal to develop those feelings for someone you have known a long time. And it's easy to get all caught up in those feelings. Those feelings only last if you take care of them though, you can't expect them to just be there. We did a terrible job of nurturing them, so it's only natural that they died. "

"What?" Bulla asked raising an eyebrow.

"I just wanna be friends with you again, and honestly I don't care if you have sex with my dad. Can we just move past this?" Pan asked with an exhausted sigh.

"I mean, that would be the best thing ever." Bulla said with a smile.

"Can I have a hug?" Pan asked softly.

"Yeah." Bulla said before throwing her arms around her friend.

Bulla had a picture of them hugging in her wallet from when they were children. They hadn't seen each other in a few weeks because Bulla had been on vacation with her family. Bulla could remember that day; she could remember how excited she had been to see her friend, she remembered how easy childhood had been. She remembered what she felt that day. She felt the same today. This hug was the same, and different. It was a hug filled with sadness, sadness because they had been apart so long, sadness for the days lost to missing each other when they could have…no should have just been friends.

"I should probably get back to work." Bulla said softly when the hug ended.

"I mean…I guess." Pan said jokingly before leading her back to the front of the door. "Is Trunks working too?"

"Not right now, dad made mom fire him and he has no work history other than that. Usually a recommendation from capsule corps would get someone a job anywhere. But people have been acting like he's some dumb spoiled rich kid who got a recommendation letter from his mommy." Bulla said with a chuckle.

"And you pay all the bills with what you make here?" Pan asked.

"No." Bulla said looking away. "My mom is helping me until either papa simmers down a bit or Trunks gets a job. But honestly I just hope Trunks gets a job."

"Makes sense." Pan said with a nod. "I should probably go…"

"Well, Trunks wants to throw a New Year party at our apartment, you should come." Bulla said as she remembered her brother suggesting this.

"Oh?" Pan said surprised.

"Yeah, and bring some friends too!" Bulla said with a smile.

"Ok well I guess I will see you in like a month then." Pan said with a laugh.

"Okay…Bye." Bulla said softly before heading back to work.

A loud knock on Gohan's door ripped his attention from the dishes he was doing. His apartment was no longer in the sad state it had been in a week ago when Bulla first came back. He kept it clean because Bulla wouldn't cook if the kitchen was dirty, and he loved her cooking. Gohan knew that wasn't her though, she no longer knocked and worked until 10 today. Gohan dried his hands and walked to open the front door.

"Hey what's up?" Gohan asked as he stood in his doorway.

"Hey, you've been ignoring my texts." Videl said softly. Obviously embarrassed and nervous to be approaching him. She had approached him a week before, why did she suddenly feel less confident in her actions? She was being much less bold than last time, but for some reason she felt that this conversation was not going to end up in as good of a place as their last one.

"I'm sorry, Christmas is only a month away work gets really busy trying to cram a month's worth of education into two weeks." Gohan lied with a shrug.

Gohan really didn't want to tell her it was because of Bulla. He didn't want to hurt her, and he had told her he wasn't talking to Bulla. He hadn't been, but now they were doing much more than talking. She seemed to accept the answer he had given her. But that still left him curious as to what she was here for. He didn't want to invite her in, Bulla had been back in his life for less than a week and her clothes scattered across his apartment made it seem like she had never left. He didn't want Videl to find out that way.

"Pan, uh she wanted to come talk to you but she said something about grabbing something from a classmate who worked at that uh café so I just figured I would stop by." Videl said.

"Oh?" Gohan said rather taken aback, why had Pan wanted to talk to him?

"Yeah." She said looking away.

"Well it's cold out so give me just a second to clean up." Gohan said abruptly shutting the door on her. Very quickly he gathered Bulla's clothes from the main room and threw them into his. He then opened the door again. "Sorry." He said softly motioning for her to come in.

"Gohan, I lived with you for like twenty years, I can handle any mess you make." Videl said with a chuckle.

"I guess you're right." Gohan said with a nervous laugh. There was a moment of silence, a rather uncomfortable moment of silence.

"So…about the other night." Videl said softly.

"Yeah?" Gohan asked.

"Did you want to…I don't know…do that again?" She averted her eyes at this point.

Gohan tensed at the question. It should be easy, he should just say no. That is what Bulla would want him to do. But then, as she reminded him constantly they were not actually together. She wasn't his girlfriend and he wasn't her boyfriend. Bulla sure as hell wasn't having sex with him either. She undressed in front of him, and got close to him and flirted with him all while constantly being around, but they had only kissed a couple times since that night a week ago. She had been rather stingy with her affection. He wanted to say no, but he wanted so bad to say yes.

"I…" Gohan started still not entirely sure what to answer. But he was cut off anyway by Pan opening the door and shouting at him.

"Dad!" She exclaimed throwing her arms in the air.  
"Pan!" He responded mimicking her actions. He was immensely more comfortable as soon as she appeared.  
"I have a question!" Pan said.

"I am sure I have an answer." He said with a smile. She could tell that he was relieved to see her.

"It's a really serious question." Pan said her tone suddenly changing.

"O…ok." Gohan responded.

"At the turn of the new year I want you to train me so that I can join the Galactic Patrol." Pan declared.

"I would be honored." Gohan said softly. He was more than a little surprised that Pan had come to him, he was surprised that Pan was even talking to him. Was it because she thought he wasn't talking to Bulla? The guilt ate at him. He wanted to say more but his eyes shot to Videl. Suddenly he felt like she was an intruder on this moment that was theirs. His eyes shot back to Pan for a second. "But why me and why so suddenly?"

"Mom…" Pan said softly "Can I meet you in the car please?"

"Ok." Videl said obviously a little miffed but she turned and left closing the door behind her.

"Pan?" Gohan asked.

"I have never really thought about what I want to do with my life." Pan said softly. "But I remember when I was little, and you would put on your superhero costume and we would play. You were always my superhero and I have always wanted to be just like you."

"Pan." He said softly. Her words made Gohan feel worse about what he had done to hurt her, not just the Bulla situation but anything and everything he had ever done to fail his daughter. He looked at her closely, and for the first time he felt as though he was seeing her as an adult and not as a child.

"But you know, I think I wanna be a superhero too." Pan said with a laugh. "And if I join the galactic patrol I will be."

"It can't be that hard to get into the galactic patrol." Gohan said remembering the last galactic patrolman that he had known.

"I know. But I want to be the best." Pan said softly. "I want to be a legend."

"Why not ask Piccolo for help? Why me?" Gohan said.

"He doesn't want me to do it." Pan said softly. "He refuses to have anything to do with me joining the Galactic Patrol. But I didn't want him to anyway. Dad, if I join the Galactic Patrol I'm going to be in danger a lot, but everyone says you are the best, so I really want it to be you."

"Pan…" Gohan started.

"I have already talked to Bulla. I didn't tell her about my plans, but I know where you two are at." Pan said softly. "And it doesn't bother me. I just had to clear my head."

"Are you sure?" Gohan asked tensely.

"Yeah." Pan said with a smile. "I'm happy."

"Then, yes Pan I would love to train you and help you reach your Goals." Gohan said with a smile. He was glad she was ok with it. But now he just needed to figure out what to do about Videl.

"Also, Trunks is throwing a New Year's Eve party and Bulla said I could bring people. So can I be the first to invite you?" Pan said with a smile.  
"Yeah I'll go to Trunks' stupid party." Gohan said with a smile before they hugged goodbye and Pan left.

"I think I have had too much eggnog!" Goten declared as he laid his head in Bulla's lap.

"Hey no get, you're not a fag anymore you can't just hang on my woman like that." Gohan shouted from Bulla's kitchen where he was preparing more drinks.

"Ah bro you gotta know Bulla is like a little sister to me, she always has been. When it comes to her consider me a fag." Goten said burying his face in her abdomen and wrapping his arms around her.

Bulla had expected it to be a lonely Christmas, Trunks had finally gotten a job and called her this morning to tell her he probably wouldn't be home until tomorrow or the next day. They had expected this, but she had hoped her sibling would be home so she didn't have to be alone on this holiday. Just when she was anticipating spending the day alone in bed Gohan and Goten had shown up. At first Goten had seemed very uncomfortable, but when she informed them Trunks would not be home for Christmas Goten had eased up a lot. Goten had shown up at Gohan's house because he didn't want to be alone and they realized that Bulla and Trunks didn't have people to celebrate with and that it would probably be a good time to try and socialize with Trunks. But the relief that permeated the air when they discovered that Trunks was not here told the truth. They were here for Bulla and only for Bulla. This made her happy, ever since she had mended things with Gohan the three of them had spent a lot of time together.

"Move, I have more alcohol and if you want it then you have to let me sit next to Bulla." Gohan said giving his brother a swift kick in the ribs.

"No." Goten said cuddling deeper into her. "The chair is still technically next to her."

"Move." Gohan said sternly to his intoxicated sibling.  
"Fine, you're just jealous cuz she won't let you get this close to her." Goten said moving quick enough to avoid a second kick.

"Jackass." Gohan muttered as he handed a giggling Bulla her drink. It was true though, they still hadn't had sex, not since before they had gone their separate ways. It bothered him a little, but only because he wanted her so badly. But he could wait, he would wait as long as she wanted. Or that was what he kept telling himself.

"Thanks." Goten said with a grin before taking his drink and sitting in the recliner next to the couch.  
"Yeah whatever." Gohan said rolling his eyes before sitting next to Bulla and taking a drink.

"Why are you so mean to me?" Goten asked sadly.

"Because you're an annoying little twerp." Gohan responded jokingly. Goten shot his brother a glare.

But the more he looked at his brother the more he became aware of the strikingly noticeable amount of weight Goten had lost over the past couple months, weight and muscle. He obviously wasn't training, or eating, or sleeping. He had been throwing himself into school and work and recreational alcohol abuse. The only rest he got was from passing out drunk.

Gohan was glad when his brother had shown up on his doorstep this morning although he had been getting ready to go over to Goten's anyway. It had actually been a complaint about how uncomfortable Gohan's couch was that led them here. He knew Goten had been hoping and fearing Trunks being here. The news that he was gone had both relieved and saddened his younger brother, but it was probably for the best.

"Yeah what ended up happening with that anyway?" Bulla asked Goten. A month before she had come back to Gohans house to find the two men asleep and awkwardly holding hands. To which she had soon discovered was result of Goten not in fact being gay.

"She called me about a week later to tell me she got engaged and never wanted to talk to me again." Goten said with a sad laugh.  
"Fuck. I'm sorry man." Gohan muttered. He had noticed an increase in his brother's alcohol consumption shortly after the incident with Marron.

"Nah. She used me in high school, and she used me that night. I should expect this from her." Goten said with a laugh. "I told you I had a bad feelin."

"Maybe you should go lay down." Bulla said softly. "I think you've had a little too much to drink."

"Now your girlfriend is trying to ruin my fun." Goten growled at his brother.

"She's not my girlfriend." Gohan said rather harshly shooting Bulla a glare. She had on many occasions reminded him that they were not in fact an item and that she still needed to know what she wanted before they became an item.

"Gohan." Bulla growled.

"Oh shit, yeah I don't wanna be in the middle of this, goodnight." Goten said with a giggle before stumbling to Trunks room to lie down.

"Why did you say that?" Bulla asked shoving him to the other side of the couch causing him to spill his drink.

"What do you mean why did I say that? You remind me every day that you aren't my girlfriend. You reminded me almost immediately when I showed up today that you weren't my girlfriend and that I was under no obligation to be here. You seem pretty adamant about the fact so I figured you wouldn't want people confused." Gohan growled standing up and placing his cup on the table. Luckily the drink had only spilled a little on the side of the cup so there was no mess to clean up.

"But…" Bulla trailed looking like a deer in the headlights. She wasn't sure what to say and she really had no defense.

"But what?" Gohan asked.

"You didn't have to say that to Goten." She said softly.

"He's too fucking shitfaced to remember anything these days." Gohan muttered. Bulla cringed because she had noticed it too.

"I just….I just need more time." Bulla said softly.

"How much more time do you need." Gohan asked desperately.

"I don't know." Bulla said softly trying not to cry.

"You are being selfish and childish." Gohan said softly. "And I am really too old to be playing games."

"This isn't a game!" Bulla protested.

"It sure feels like a fucking game every time you get naked in front of me just to remind me that you won't have sex with me."

"Is that what this is about? Because I won't have sex with you?" Bulla shouted outraged.

"No. It's about you constantly treating me like I am not good enough for your spoiled ass." Gohan growled.

"I never!" Bulla protested.

"No, you always." Gohan denied. "Whenever we go out, or are around anyone else you make it crystal clear that we aren't together. You don't let me touch you or hold your hand and half the time you don't let me sit next to you. The only time you even allow me to entertain the idea is when we are alone at my apartment. And even then you always flirt with me and act like you want me, then you just strip and go to sleep. You do it on purpose and don't you dare try to tell me you don't."

"Now isn't the time for this." Bulla said.

"Then when is Bulla?" He asked raising his voice. "When is the right time to ask for validation from you?"

"I…I don't know." Bulla stammered. She didn't know what to say. And she was having a hard time fighting with herself over this. She wanted Gohan, and she wanted him so bad. But she was still hurting from their time apart.

"Well how about you call me when you decide what you want." Gohan growled.

"Gohan!" Bulla protested.

"What?" He asked.

"You're too drunk to go anywhere. Please, just stay with me tonight." She begged softly.

"Bulla." He said softly. "Why do you have me so wrapped around your damn finger?"

"Please?" Bulla asked.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" Gohan asked.

"Gohan." She protested. "Can we talk about this when we are sober?"

"Fine." Gohan muttered before following her to her room to sleep off the alcohol.

Goten buried himself in the soft blankets. The scent of Trunks clung to the bed and enveloped him, this scent was the reason he hadn't been able to sleep in his own bed. He didn't want it to go away and he knew if he slept in those blankets it would fade. He didn't have to worry tonight though, it was one night in a bed Trunks had slept in less than a week before. The smell overwhelmed his drunken mind with memories, all of the good ones. Memories of previous Christmases, he could remember spending the day simply wrapped in blankets and eating. He remembered tender adolescent kisses under hidden mistletoe. He remembered Christmas parties where they ran away to play video games because adult stuff was boring. It hit him hard when he realized this had been the first Christmas in his life where he had not seen Trunks.

Goten watched the alarm clock shift he watched an hour fade. 11:45, 11:46, 11:47, he wasn't going to see Trunks today, tears streamed down his cheeks as he thought this, it truly would ruin Christmas for him. Small sobs escaped his lips. 11:48, 11:49, 11:50, he wondered where Trunks was at this moment and who he was spending Christmas with. Was it another man? Or a woman? Was it his father, or someone else Trunks had cheated on him with? 11:51, 11:52, 11:53, a car door closed somewhere nearby, someone was going to make it home to their family moments before Christmas ended, oh how Goten wished it were Trunks coming home to him. But time had shown him that Trunks didn't really want him.

11:54, 11:55, 11:56, a door closed, the bathroom? Oh how these noises made his heart jump, coming down from each high of excitement made him much sadder.

11:57,11:58….

The bedroom door opened. Goten rolled to face it. There was no light in the living room to cast a shadow, the room was dark so the person was not visible, but there was someone there.

"You weren't home." He heard a voice crack in the darkness.

Tears filled Goten's eyes, he wasn't sure if he was sad or happy, a mixture of both maybe.

"I thought…" Trunks muttered as he walked towards the bed where Goten lay. "I thought….i was afraid…I just…"

"What are you trying to say?" Goten said tearfully.

"I…I thought I wasn't going to get to kiss you on Christmas." Trunks said softly before leaning down and capturing Goten's mouth with his.

Trunks placed a hand on either side of Goten's thin face and pulled him close. Thin, too thin, why was he so thin? Trunks began to worry but the worrying was quickly overshadowed by Goten adamantly kissing him back. Goten gripped the front of his shirt trying to get closer to him.

"Goten." Trunks muttered softly. He could taste alcohol on the other. Was he drinking again? Or was this just a Christmas party? Was that why Goten was so thin?

"Lay down." Goten demanded in just as soft of a tone before releasing his shirt.

Trunks nodded and quickly took his shoes and socks off. He shed his jacket and his shirt as well as his very uncomfortable pants. Trunks walked over to the dresser that sat in the far corner by the window. He pulled out a pair of sweat pants and opened the curtains slightly allowing the moonlight to flow in.

"Those are mine, I've been looking for them." Goten muttered as he recognized Trunks' pants.

"That's why I have them." Trunks responded as he walked back over to the bed.

Trunks slipped into the bed next to him and was overwhelmed with the smell of Goten. If he hadn't come home tonight he would have come home to this smell. He was glad he had made it in time. Trunks wrapped his arm around Goten's hips and pulled Goten into his chest. He looked down at the other and examined him, wanting to remember this, wanting to always remember Goten. Because he was sure he wouldn't see him again for a long time after this. The moonlight allowed him to see Goten clearly. He had been crying, his eyes red from tears and obviously lack of sleep. Had he been sleeping? How long had he been going without sleep? His face was thinner than it had felt. Goten's body in his arms felt fragile, his muscle was gone he wasn't working out. He must be drinking again. This had happened before, right after Trunks had graduated. Goten had been a year behind him so he was stuck in school. He had made some pretty bad friends and learned that he liked alcohol too much. Trunks had been forced to babysit him twenty four hours a day to get him to stop drinking. All of his classes were at night so he had to have Marron watch him at night. That had been long before they had started dating.

"Are you ok?" Trunks asked softly. He could feel Goten's pulse going wild. They had been apart a long time but having Goten in his arms had never felt more perfect.

"I'm nervous, and drunk, and so happy." Goten said softly as he lay his head against Trunks' chest. "I miss you."

"I miss you too." Trunks said softly tightening his arms around Goten, not wanting to let him go.

They laid there as hours passed. Simply holding each other and kissing each other more often than not. It was a peaceful evening. Much like the first night they had admitted their feelings for each other. Trunks had snuck into Goten's room one night the summer after Goten had graduated. It was there in that small bedroom in the mountains where their love had first been fully realized. But sex had not been part of it. No much like tonight it had been a barrage of nervous touches and soft kisses. As the intoxication faded Goten seemed to become tired. But he couldn't fall asleep. He had been anticipating something else, perhaps sex or at least for Trunks to attempt to have sex with him. Did this mean that Trunks didn't want him anymore?

"I wanna go home." Goten said breaking the six hours of silence.

"Goten." Trunks said rather groggy.

"Trunks…" Goten said softly. "I can't stay here. I don't feel ok."

"Goten." Trunks said again this time more alert. "You shouldn't go be alone if you are having a panic attack."

"I…I need to get away from you." Goten muttered.

"Goten." Trunks begged softly tightening his arms around the other not wanting to let him go.

"Let me leave." Goten said. "You got what you wanted for Christmas now let me go." Goten said struggling against him. But he didn't have to struggle for long Trunks released him just as he requested.

"Coffee?" Trunks offered as Gohan emerged from Bulla's room.

"Yeah thanks." Gohan said with a nod. With how bad his head was pounding from the alcohol and the arguing from the night before so he sure needed it. "Goten?"

"He left like an hour ago." Trunks said softly as he poured Gohan a cup and handed it to him.

"When did you get home?" Gohan asked.

"Like midnight." Trunks responded tensely.

Something had happened. They must have ran into each other at some point, after all Goten was in Trunks bed.

"Ah." Gohan responded before taking a drink of coffee. They sat in silence for a moment.

"Is Goten drinking?" Trunks asked softly as he stared into his untouched coffee.

"What?" Gohan asked taken by surprise.

"Is Goten drinking?" Trunks repeated becoming tense.

"Yeah." Gohan responded.

"Why are you letting him drink?" Trunks growled.

"Excuse me? He is an adult he can make his own choices." Gohan responded setting his coffee cup on the counter. He was sure this was about to get heated and the last thing he wanted to do was have a mess to clean up.

"But you can obviously see he's abusing it and it's bad for him? And yet you're doing nothing? You need to make him stop." Trunks said.

"He will stop on his own." Gohan responded.

"No he won't! Trust me I've been here and done this with Goten before, you have to make him stop or he won't!" Trunks declared.

"How do you expect me to make him stop?"

"I don't know, lock him in your fucking apartment or something."

"No. I'm not going to lock my brother in my apartment."

"Do you like not even care about him?"

"How dare you of all people accuse me of not caring about my brother. I do care about him and I'm doing a hell of a better job taking care of him than you did."

"Oh really? Then why the fuck is he drinking so much?"

"I don't know, you've been here and done this before seems the common denominator is you."

"Fuck you."

"No thanks, I prefer your sister."

It wasn't hard for Gohan to dodge Trunk's fist, he was too enraged to see straight but he managed to put a hole in the cabinet that was behind Gohan. Gohan however was able to land his fist right in the center of Trunks' stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

"If you cared so much you would have taken care of him from the very beginning you worthless sack of shit." Gohan muttered.

Trunks grabbed the front of Gohan's shirt and landed a blow of his own in Gohan's stomach.

"What the fuck are you guys doing?" Bulla shouted as she came out of her room clad only in Gohan's shirt from the night before. But she didn't give them a chance to respond. "Gohan, leave I will come over later."

"But we need to talk." Gohan protested.

"It can wait." Bulla declared. To this she got a rather rude look from Gohan.

The two split and Gohan took his leave after gathering his stuff.

"What the fuck was that?" Bulla asked her brother crossing her arms.

"Why the fuck aren't you taking care of Goten?" Trunks asked with tears of rage in his eyes.

"It's not my job to take care of Goten." Bulla responded snidely. "If I recall correctly it was your job to take care of Goten. But instead you stepped out of your place and took care of Goku instead."

"You bitch." Trunks said through clenched teeth.

"You flatter me dear brother." Bulla said sarcastically.

"That's because you're a bitch." He muttered.

"If you are so worried about him, why did you let him leave?" Bulla asked her tone changing into one of concern.

"Because he would never forgive me if I kept him." Trunks said softly.

"Then why don't you follow him?" Bulla suggested.

"What do I do when I get to him?" Trunks asked.

"Apologize, mean it, and prove it."

No more encouragement was needed for Trunks to bail out the front door in only sweatpants. He had been empty for months, he needed Goten. He had always needed Goten, but now he needed to be what Goten needed. He blazed past Gohan who was walking down the road in a rather grim mood. The cold air hit his skin but he didn't care. He had never made it to that apartment so quickly before in his life. The door was unlocked, he didn't knock he simply walked in. The doorway opened into the living room where Goten was laying asleep on the couch wrapped in a cocoon of blankets. He didn't want to disturb Goten so he closed the door softly and walked over to the coffee table. It was the sound of him sitting on the coffee table that woke Goten.

"What are you doing here?" Goten asked groggily.

"I can't just let you go." Trunks said. "Goten you're my soul mate."

"If you really felt that way you wouldn't have cheated on me." Goten growled.

"I know." Trunks said softly. "I have my own…issues…but that's no excuse for what I did to you. I've grown a lot without you. And, while I know it hasn't been very long, I'm sure I can make you happy."

"You're gonna cheat on me again." Goten grumbled.

"No." Trunks denied. "Never again. You're the only one I want."

"I don't believe you." Goten muttered sitting up at this point.

"Just give me one more chance. Please?" Trunks begged.

"If you hurt me again I'll kill you." Goten said morbidly.

"Fuck Goten you could kill me now if you wanted to." Trunks said softly. "Dude my life is yours."

Her apartment was in a much different state than it had been a few days prior, she had decorated it with silver star decorations and tons of metallic streamers. They had gotten a disco ball to send light around the room. Gohan hadn't contacted Bulla since the incident during Christmas. He had avoided her, and now he was unsure if she was going to be happy or not. He looked at his daughter who shot him a dazzling smile and then to Videl who had decided to come with.

"Pan!" The hostess exclaimed completely ignoring Gohan and taking Pan by the arm. "My friend come enjoy the party."

Bulla pulled Pan away from her parents not even sparing Gohan a glance. Anger, insecurity and guilt ate at him. But he decided to brush it away and attempt to have a good time. Maybe he would be able to talk to her later. He sure hoped that was the case. He wanted to talk to Bulla.

Pan and Bulla walked through the crowd of people welcoming them all to the party. It was obvious Bulla didn't know half of these people but she was still very welcoming. Pan spotted some familiar faces among the crowd such as Trunks, Goten and Marron. After welcoming the strangers Bulla made a beeline for Marron pulling Pan with her.

"Marron!" Bulla exclaimed as they approached. "Is this your fiancé?"

"Yeah, Leif this is Bulla and Pan two of my very close friends." Marron said with a smile. "And my two very close friends this is the man I am going to marry."

"What kind of name is Leif?" Bulla asked jokingly.

"You're one to talk Bra." Pan joked.

"So hows work?" Bulla asked Marron.

"It's usually slow during the winter aside from conventions so it has been pretty easy this last month." Marron said with a smile. "How are you holding up, with your parents' divorce and all?"

"Eh it's whatever, I actually have a much better relationship with my dad now." Pan said with a shrug. "So it is probably for the best."

"But your mom said that her and your dad are getting back together." Leif said choosing this time to speak, causing all three women to tense.

"I…I haven't heard anything like that." Pan said her arm tightening around Bulla's to keep her from running. "Did she say that Marron?"

"I think she said something like that." Marron said softly carefully watching the pain that showed on Bulla's face.

"Let me go Pan." Bulla said softly. They hadn't talked since the morning after Christmas. He hadn't answered his door when she had tried to come over, and he hadn't tried to contact her. Had that much really changed over less than a week.

"Bulla?" Pan asked.

"I just need to go lay down, I think I've had too much to drink." Bulla said with a shrug. "I thought I might drink too much that's why the party is at my house."

Pan nodded, knowing the truth, and released her. Pan watched Bulla nod to Leif and Marron before darting through the living room and slipping into her room. Pan's eyes raced around the room where she found Piccolo on the other side of the room. He was much closer to her father than she was, their eyes met. He knew what she wanted him to do so he gave her a nod and headed towards her father.

"Did I do something wrong?" Leif asked Marron softly.

"Kinda, but it's not really your fault." Marron said.

"I'm so lost." He muttered.

"Bulla is actually…kinda with my dad right now." Pan explained.

"Wait…what?" Leif said.

"Yeah." Marron said.

"He's like twice her age." Leif exclaimed.

"But neither of them has ever been this happy in their lives." Pan defended.

"Really?" He asked surprised getting a nod from both of the girls. "You people are crazy."

"You're the one who's marrying into this, it seems like you're the crazy one." Pan said.

"I'm leaving." A voice said from behind them causing Pan to turn quickly.

"Were you planning on leaving without me?" Pan asked putting her hands on her hips.

"If I was planning on leaving without you I would have just left." Piccolo responded before turning and heading for the front door. Pan said her goodbyes and followed him out.

Gohan had been watching her since he had walked in. It hadn't been hard she had immediately come up and taken Pan from them. He knew he shouldn't be jealous but he was being hit with two different types of jealousy at the same time. He was jealous that Pan had invited him and then run off with her friend, but he was also jealous that Bulla had paid him no mind and ran off with Pan. With no direction he just walked around with Videl keeping her company and talking to everyone. But he never lost sight of Bulla. He watched her as she spent most of the evening with her arm laced in Pan's, just like when they were children. They seemed to be talking to Marron and a thin red headed male. It must be her fiancé.

Gohan's eyes scanned the room to find his brother. Goten was near Trunks, but while Trunks was up and socializing Goten seemed to be sitting on the couch watching Marron. He seemed rather distraught, was it Marron? Or something else? Gohan's eyes floated back to Bulla. He wasn't sure but he felt like they had talked to Marron and her fiancé at some point tonight. But he had been to focused on Bulla to really pay attention. He watched them as they all spoke. Gohan noticed Bulla tense, something had happened, moments passed before she dislodged herself from Pan and bolted to her room. Pan's gaze quickly met his and she seemed rather upset with him.

"If you don't go see you're gonna regret it." Piccolo said walking up behind him.

"W-when did you get there?" Gohan asked turning.

"When did I teach you to ask stupid questions?" Piccolo asked. "Go."

"O-okay." Gohan stammered before turning and weaving his way through the crowd to get to her room. He didn't tell Videl he was leaving, but to be fair he really hadn't been there all night.

"Bulla?" Gohan asked as he stepped into her room closing the door behind him.

"Go away." Bulla said softly.

"Why?" Gohan asked

"Because I hate you!" Bulla shouted.

"Stop, you're overreacting." Gohan said tensely grabbing her forearm so that she couldn't walk away. Was she still mad about the fight on Christmas? He really wanted to get past that and have her back in his arms.

"Really? Because you are the one who came to a New Year's party with your ex-wife. And she seems to have everyone believing you are getting back together." Bulla said hysterically.

"That's not what's going on!" Gohan protested.

"Really then why did you bring her?" Bulla asked.

"I didn't!" Gohan said.

"You came with her!"

"No! I came with Pan." Gohan argued.

"W-what?" Bulla stammered.

"Pan asked me to come with them." Gohan said still not releasing her arm.

"But Videl's saying…." Bulla trailed.

"Fuck what Videl says." Gohan said grabbing Bulla's shoulders. "I'm not playing games Bulla. I want you, nobody else."

"R-really?" Bulla asked shaking as she looked up at him.

"Yes." Gohan said meeting her gaze.

"Gohan?" Bulla asked softly.

"Yeah?" He asked as he looked at her.

"I'm sorry that I've been so difficult. But I really do want to be with you." Bulla said softly.

"What does that even mean?" Gohan asked shaking his head slightly.

"I want to be your girlfriend." She said softly.

"Then I guess that makes you my girlfriend." Gohan said tenderly. Their eyes stayed locked as they heard people counting down in the living room. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, Gohan pulled her close to him running his fingers through her hair, five, four, three, two, one, Gohan captured her lips with his and held her close kissing her deeply.

The kiss was intense, sending heat shooting through Bulla. Despite how hot she had become Bulla began to shiver. Bumps raised along her skin at every point they made contact. Fireworks seemed to erupt between them, but they were quickly put out by a commotion in the living room. Breaking apart they headed towards the bedroom door to see what had happened.

"Dude lay off." Trunks said softly.

"No." Goten growled at the other before turning to face Marron. "I'm tired of all these fucking games. It's always been games with you. Now you're only doing it to be a bitch, someone else's life isn't a fucking game Marron."

"No!" Marron shouted back. "I don't want to talk about this right now. I already told you that."

"Oh yeah? And when are we gonna talk about it? The next time you show up shit faced at 2am?" Goten spat snidely.

"Leave her alone." Leif said stepping between the two of them. He seemed to think he stood some sort of chance against Goten, which made Goten laugh mockingly.

"You should step back kitty or I might take all nine of your lives." Goten said menacingly.

"Goten what the hell is going on?" Gohan shouted drawing attention to the two of them emerging from Bulla's bedroom. There had been a lot of people before but now it seemed that only a handful of people remained. Bulla, Gohan, Trunks, Goten , Marron, Leif, and Videl. Many people had left likely to hit up a bar before New Year was over.

"She won't answer my damn question." Goten growled.

"Is this really the time?" Gohan crossed his arms and glared at him.

"Yes." Goten said before staring back at Marron. "Answer me!"  
"No." Marron shook her head.

"Really, because you think this weakling you are planning on marrying is going to be able to handle it?" Goten said shooting a nasty look at Marron's fiancé.

"What does strength have to do with anything?" Trunks asked. He too seemed oblivious to the situation.

"Marron!" Goten shouted ignoring Trunks. "Just answer me you bitch! Are you carrying my fucking child?"

The room fell silent. Nobody had seemed to have been aware of the reason for the disturbance, but now that they did everybody wanted an answer. Everybody had their eyes on Marron. Well almost everybody, Videl's eyes were glued to Bulla. And Bulla was scanning the faces in the crowd getting a bearing for where everybody stood in this delicate situation. Bulla could tell what the truth was, simply by how embarrassed Leif looked. Marron was angry and embarrassed and backed into a corner. She was going to answer but she seemed to be fighting that right now. Goten was focused, originally Bulla had thought he was drunk, but even if he had been before his rage had him completely sober his gaze was clear and threatening.

This was the intensity of a Saiyjin male, this was what strength had to do with it. Someone would have to raise this child, and there was no way a human male who knew nothing about Saiyjins could properly raise one of them. Especially not if the father was still alive. Saiyjin males had a bond from the beginning, her father and her brother had always had it, Goku had it with both of his sons at one point. There was no way Marron could take Goten's child from him, Goten would never let that happen.

Trunks was shaking, was it rage or sadness? Bulla couldn't quite tell. Trunks had always been controlling of Goten. He was always protecting him, keeping him safe. But that was the job of royalty right? To protect their people? There were so few remaining so it shouldn't be this damn hard. With this thought Bulla's eyes shot to Gohan. He and Goten were definitely brothers, they both had the same look on their faces. This was Gohan's family, his younger brother, his potential niece or nephew. This was his clan, one of the two remaining Saiyjin clan's.

Gohan felt her gaze on him and allowed his eyes to meet hers for a moment. She was studying him, this women was always studying something. Gohan offered his hand to which she smiled and took it. Gohan smiled back before turning his attention back to his younger brother. Everyone was waiting on Marron.

"Answer him." Trunks growled at Marron. What was he thinking?

"Yes." Marron finally answered, obviously more intimidated by the Saiyjin Prince than by the other man.

"You don't get to keep this from us." Gohan said walking towards Marron, bringing Bulla with him. This created a wall of Saiyjins between Marron and the door.

"How dare all of you stand there and act like you are better than me. You Saiyjins are a toxic and angry breed, freeiza was probably right to try to exterminate all of you." Marron spat at them.

"At least I didn't give up all of my ambitions to be denied by a drunken teenage boy in the back seat of his boyfriend's car." Bulla said, not taking the insult to her race lightly. Marron was right, they were and angry breed but she seemed to forget that being angry only made them stronger and faster and smarter.

These words visibly disturbed Trunks. But Bulla couldn't tell what her brother was thinking. Their eyes met and his revealed the downside to anger, the pain. Bulla hadn't thought of her brother, she had thought of hurting Marron. But it wasn't a new anger, it was an old one, Bulla could tell. Trunks had known this, he had known the whole time. But hearing it seemed to bring that pain to the forefront.

Marron cringed and Goten shot her a glare. They hadn't told Trunks, and they didn't know he knew. Bulla tightened her grip on Gohan's hand for reassurance and a sense of security. Videl saw this. She had been watching them closely. She seemed distraught in her own right. But part of Bulla felt good about this. Videl had been going around telling everyone that she and Gohan were together, but now everyone could see the truth. They could see that Gohan was now Bulla's. Videl slipped out of the apartment not wanting to cry in public.

Everyone had left, now it was only the four Half-Saiyjins and the two humans. Silence stood between them. Nobody said anything for a minute. They were all tense. It was Trunks that finally spoke.

"You can leave this apartment. But if you leave town we will hunt you down and bring you back." Trunks threatened.

"What the fuck is wrong with you people!" Leif exclaimed.

"People?" Goten said softly. "No…more like gods."

"You're so fucking full of yourself." Leif growled.

"Come at me." Goten said with a cocky grin.

"Stop." Gohan said taking control of the situation. He then looked at Marron. "Go back to your parents' house, take it easy this is going to be ten times harder than carrying a human, there is a reason that saiyjin women didn't carry their babies, but unfortunately we haven't developed that technology yet." He then turned to Goten and Trunks. "Don't bother her." He turned back to Marron. "You may go now, but if you try to take this child away we will come, and you know full well you won't be able to hide from us."

Marron nodded to Gohan, she didn't like it but knew that Gohan probably knew what was best. She looked at her fiancé who was distraught in his own right. He hadn't known she was pregnant, she had just found out earlier that day. How had Goten figured it out though was her main concern. Gohan moved out of the way giving them a very large opening for them to leave. He even went as far as to roughly pull Bulla further away. Marron quickly made her way to the door holding in her tears long enough for the door to close behind her. She ignored Leif's coaxing for her to get in the car and they could talk about it on the way to her parents. She wanted to walk. She wanted to walk home in the snow and cry in her mothers' arms over her mistakes, just as she had so many years ago.

"Where are you going?" Bulla asked Gohan as he pulled on a jacket.

"Well dear princess," Gohan said his eyes shooting between her and their brothers who also wanted an answer, "This appears to be some pretty serious shit. So I'm going to see the king."

"No." Bulla argued. "He doesn't need to be a part of this, this isn't his business."

"But it is." Gohan shot back. "Our race is barely alive; we need to make sure it doesn't fade like dust in the wind. We need to make sure we are all kept together."

"He's right." Goten said softly. "If we are anything and if we owe allegiance to anything it's our heritage and our future. You two just don't understand because Vegeta is your dad. But he's more than that, while Goku may be the strongest warrior, Vegeta definitely is our king. It is him who we do and always have looked to for guidance in times of strife."

"But…" Bulla tried to argue, but she couldn't seem to find a viable argument, so she watched Gohan leave.


	8. Chapter 8

(Happy New Year! There is smut in this chapter that has been censored out. If you are interested in the smut visit archive of our own under the same name)

"Well, this is all weird." Bulla muttered to her brother as the other two left them.

"Yeah." Trunks responded crossing his arms over his chest. "I didn't know that you knew about Goten and Marron. That was so long ago. Well I guess it's a recent thing too."

"I didn't know you knew." Bulla responded. "So how did you even find out?"

"I interrupted them one evening in the back of my car." Trunks frowned.

"So…that's why you gave him that car." Bulla muttered that.

"Well that and honestly I kinda lost control of myself. I hurt him pretty bad." Trunks shuddered. "So I felt like I had to do something to make up for it."

"Like how bad?" Bulla said softly.

"Nothing like crazy, a few broken ribs and he had a pretty bad black eye and a split lip." Trunks said softly. "We used to do worse to each other when we were training as kids."

"Yeah but it's different when you actually want to hurt someone." She said, her face was blank Trunks couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"I know." He said averting his gaze. "That was the last time I went super saiyjin."

"That's metal." Bulla said shrugging off this information.

Time had passed, but perhaps this explained a lot more about their relationship. Sure Trunks had been shitty, but so it seemed had Goten. Bulla hadn't noticed until now how worn down her brother looked. When most Saiyjins were his age they were in the prime of their lives and incredibly healthy. Her brother looked tired, almost the same type of tired her father displayed.

"So what about you?" Trunks asked softly.

"What do you mean what about me?" Bulla asked confused.

"Are you and Gohan finally a thing?" Trunks asked.

"Yeah, I think so." Bulla replied blushing.

"What do you mean you think so?" Trunks said. "It was literally only you saying no."

"No." Bulla said softly. "Maybe before it was just me, but…we…we had a really bad fight on Christmas. It was before you got home. And then I told him to leave and that we would talk about it later, because you and him were fighting."

"I was there for that part." Trunks chuckled.

"But like, when I went over to talk to him, he wasn't home. And he ignored all of my calls and texts."

"People need a break sometimes?" Trunks offered.

"Yeah I get that." Bulla said with a nod. "But then he came tonight with Pan and Videl. He said he came with Pan but he has her lipstick on his shirt and a hickey on his neck. I don't wanna be that person but like I'm going crazy insane jealous right now."

"I can understand that." Trunks said with a nod.  
"But I have no reason to be jealous, or upset, or mad, or even hurt. Because we weren't dating, that was by my choice. So I can't really expect him not to take care of that." Bulla said this quickly before taking in a sharp, pained breath. "But the thought hurts so much that I can't breathe."

"Come here." Trunks said collecting his sobbing younger sister into his arms. "It's ok. I know it hurts."

"But…he's all I want Trunks. And…and I wouldn't give him something solid. That was all he wanted. So…so I can't be mad if he ran back to a familiar comfort can I?" Bulla stammered out as she held on to her brother.

"Mad? Not really. But hurt? Absolutely." Trunks said softly.

Bulla buried her face in her brothers chest and nodded.

"Hey stop. You're just rubbing your snot on me." Trunks shouted shoving her away.  
"No I wasn't! You are so mean to me!" Bulla argued, punching her brother lightly in the chest. She could tell he was acting ridiculous in an attempt to cheer her up. It was in this moment she wondered how deeply his exhaustion ran. Was he simply exhausted with living?

"Come on Bulla." Trunks said with a smile. "There are tons of snacks left."

"Yeah you know I think I can eat." She said with a nod before they finished all of the snacks they had prepared for their very disastrous party.

"Vegeta?" Bulma asked.

"Yeah?"

"Are you coming to bed?"

"What do you not want to ring in the New Year?" Vegeta asked rather harshly.

"No not really." Bulma shot. "You made me fire Trunks so now I have nobody to help me run Capsule Corps. It's rather draining."

"I know." Vegeta said softly. "I'm sorry it's just…"

"I know what it is." Bulma replied. This time her voice was tender.

"And tonight…something feels off." Vegeta muttered.

"I think you are being paranoid." Bulma teased walking over to sit with her husband on the couch.

"I thought you weren't going to ring in the New Year with me." Vegeta teased.

"Eh, I'm over it." Bulma said with a smile.

Vegeta smiled and wrapped his arms around his wife. He held her close and ran his fingers through her soft hair. It was still blue but it was fading no longer a dazzling blue, but more of a soft baby blue. It was probably due to all of the hair that had turned white. She looked regal, almost like a queen. No, she was a queen, a queen to him and to his people. He hoped one day the next generations would understand how important this was. He did not want them to lose the last bit of Saiyjin heritage that they had. He kissed her forehead softly. It had been far too long since he had held her this close. He had been afraid of hurting her. She had always been fragile but age made it worse. He usually waited for her to ask for it before providing it.

Vegeta could feel her moving against him. She was simply trying to get comfortable and it was making him solid. She stopped moving momentarily, probably after noticing how hard he had become. She let out a soft laugh causing him to flush. It had been a long time since they had been together. He pulled her on top of him and gently kissed her forehead again. His wife, his queen the feelings he had for Bulma ran deep. It was a love he had never felt before her. A place of belonging that he had not felt since Freeiza intimidated his father. Looking at her Vegeta could not fathom how anyone could cheat on the person they chose to marry.

Looking up at her he smiled softly and rocked his hips, reminding her exactly what she did to him. From her looks to her sharp attitude he loved every part of her. She had become his first real friend, and she was the love of his life. When he was alone on a strange planet with nowhere to run she was there. How could someone hurt their best friend in the ways that Trunks and Goku had hurt theirs?

"You're thinking too much." Bulma said softly poking the middle of his forehead. "I can see it in your eyes and the little wrinkles in your forehead."

"Ah…sorry." Vegeta said with a grin.

"With all this thinking you are doing, maybe you should help me at work." Bulma smiled.

"No, you know I am no good with technology." Vegeta muttered.

"Maybe, but you definitely have better people skills." Bulma offered.

It was true though. Vegeta had been raised as a prince so he had been taught from an early age how to interact well with everyone. He was extremely charismatic in the right situations. Vegeta had learned the best ways to interact with humans, and since then he had never been anything but helpful at her charity and auction dinners. He wooed men and women alike for Bulma's benefit. But she was the only person he wanted to spend time with. Sure they had kids but most of the time they were just annoying little shits. Bulma however, he found peace and happiness in her presence. It was a feeling he hoped both of his children would get to live with some day.

Vegeta smiled and ran his hand through her hair, it was softer than silk just as it had been the first time he had touched it. He watched the skin around her lips wrinkle as they formed a smile. They were aging; it was something he was growing more aware of. He wasn't aging nearly as fast as her; he still felt as good as he had the day Bulla was born. But he could tell time was taking its toll on her. He would lose her soon. If work didn't put her in the ground their kids would. She still had a good amount of time before that happened, but she was deteriorating on her way there. While he was still in peak health, and would be until he got close to death. It always seemed to come sudden to their kind. One day they would be fine and the next everything began to hurt, that was the warning of their last few years. Vegeta's only wish was to get to spend those days with Bulma.

"We missed the New Year." Bulma said after a moment.

"That's ok." Vegeta muttered as he stared at her.

"Didn't you want to celebrate?" Bulma asked.

"I always have reason to celebrate, I have you." Vegeta said softly.

"Oh, you are so nice to me." Bulma said softly, tears welling in her eyes.

"You gave me a reason to be alive when I had nothing Bulma. So understand that I feel you are the nice one." Vegeta said intensely looking up at her.

The doorbell rang through the building snapping the two lovers out of their hidden world. Vegeta lifted his wife, shifting her to sit on the couch instead of on his lap. He groaned and stood up, rather miffed that someone had interrupted them. Clad only in his sweatpants Vegeta headed towards their front door. He tensed as he got closer. It was Gohan and Goten, he could feel their energy, he could also feel their anxiety even with the door between them. What were Kakarot's sons doing at his house so damn late at night? Had something happened to one of his children? The thought was like ice in his veins. No they were stronger than he gave them credit for; they could take care of themselves. It must be something else. Finally Vegeta chose to open the door.

There was something different about the two Son men, Vegeta could tell by looking at them. He met Gohan's eyes, suddenly he felt like he knew the younger man much better. Something serious was going on, Vegeta's eyes shot to Goten. The smaller man was much less calm than his brother. Whatever was going on had to do with him.

"Can we talk?" Gohan asked in a respectful tone.

"Not about this. He needs to tell me himself." Vegeta said, his tone was the same that he had always taken with his children. Gohan may not be child but he was a saiyjin, Vegeta had to take care of him just as much he did his children. The same went for Goten and Pan, they were his people even though Kakarot refused to show any pride in his saiyjin heritage. "What's going on Goten?"

"A human is pregnant with my child. I'm afraid she's going to try to take him from us." Goten said softly.

"Who?" Vegeta asked.

"Marron." Goten said softly.

"Marron." Vegeta said back. That was Krillin's daughter. "Why do you think she will do that?"

"It's the human she's marrying. I feel like he is going to be a problem." Goten muttered.

"Are you sure you aren't being overprotective?" Vegeta crossed his arms across his chest.

"You should meet him, and then you should let me know." Goten said. "Because I might not be seeing clearly, but I wouldn't know."

"Go home and sleep. Your child isn't going anywhere." Vegeta promised Goten.

Goten nodded, with much more confidence in the situation now. He nodded to his brother, who had his own reasons to want to speak to Vegeta, before he walked away. He was not sure if he wanted to go home. He wanted to see Trunks, but would Trunks still want him around? He shivered at the idea that Trunks may no longer want him after this.

"Did you come to tell me my daughter is pregnant?" Vegeta asked harshly now looking at Gohan.

"Oh Jesus Christ no." Gohan said looking surprised.

"But you are definitely here for something related to her." Vegeta said blandly.

"Well…yes." Gohan said softly. He took a deep breath before meeting Vegeta's gaze again.

"What is it then?" Vegeta growled.

"I…I want to date your daughter. But I want it to be ok with you." Gohan said finally meeting Vegeta with some level of confidence.

"Why does my opinion matter now?" Vegeta asked. "It didn't matter before."

"But before…we weren't taking it seriously." Gohan said softly. "Neither of us were thinking about the future. But now all I can think about is the future. And if I want a future with her in it, I know that it would have to be ok with you."

"You're taking it seriously now?" Vegeta asked.

"Yes." Gohan said.

"Does that mean that you, a forty four year old divorced teacher plan on courting the saiyjin princess?" Vegeta asked rather mockingly.

"Yes." Gohan said again without hesitation.

Vegeta looked at him for a minute. He had known Gohan since he was a child; he had watched him grow into a man. He had seen Gohan go from a whiny child to a loving husband and a doting father. This was the man who defeated cell when he was only just a child. He was strong, and he was smart. What more could he want for his daughter. Happiness. If he wanted her he had to keep her happy.

"I guess ultimately it's her choice." Vegeta said. "So her answer is my answer too, and it will remain that way."

"Thank you for your time." Gohan said softly before turning to leave.

"But my advice to you, if you expect her to stay your girlfriend then you should shower first. I doubt she will stay if you smell like your ex-wife." Vegeta stated before turning and going back inside leaving a red faced Gohan behind.

There was an odd silence at the breakfast table. They usually didn't have any quiet when Marron was home, her and Krillin were both very loud and energetic people. 18 looked at her husband who had tried to start conversation with the other two, but that had yielded nothing. Something was wrong, but it seemed neither Marron nor her fiancé wanted to talk about it. They finished their food in silence.

"So." Krillin asked as 18 cleared the table. "How long are you guys staying in town."

"We were planning on leaving tomorrow." Leif responded coldly emphasizing the planning part.

"Has there been a change of plans?" 18 asked looking at her daughter.

"I don't know." Marron said softly shooting Leif a deadly look.

"Yes you do." Leif said harshly. "You've made your choice."

"I don't have a choice." Marron said clenching her teeth.

"Ok. Enough." 18 said slamming her hand down on the table. "What the hell is going on Marron."

"She's pregnant." Leif responded.

"Shut the fuck up." Marron growled.

"Why is this a bad thing?" Krillin asked.

"Because it's not mine." Leif said with a frown.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you." Marron threatened.

"Marron!" 18 shouted.

"What?" She asked looking at her mother innocently.

"What are you keeping from us?" 18 asked.

"Nothing now since big mouth over there just said it all." Marron said glaring at Leif.

"Who did you cheat on your fiancé with?" Krillin asked looking very disappointed.

"I don't wanna talk about it!" Marron said.

"Well you are gonna have to talk about it eventually." Leif said. "He made it very clear that you can't keep his child from him so everyone is going to know soon."

"Leif." Marron growled tears filling her eyes.

"No. I don't think that was his name." Leif responded crudely.

"Stop." 18 said shutting Leif up. "Marron, tell me."

"I'm an adult, I don't have to." Marron argued.

"If you keep this from us we can't help you." 18 responded.

"Mom." She begged.

"No." Krillin said.

"Goten." She said after a short pause.

Almost as if on cue there was a knock on the kitchen door that led outside. All eyes shot to Marron, for some reason they all knew it was for her. Marron tensed and walked to the door. She slowly opened to door to be greeted by Bulma.

"Good morning!" The older woman said with a cheerful smile. "Can we talk?"

"Do I really have a choice?" Marron asked before stepping outside and closing the door behind her.

"Well, you could say no but you know as well as I do that would make all of this more difficult." Bulma said her demeanor changing to a serious one.

"Just tell me what you want." Marron said.

"Honestly." Bulma said. "I want to talk. I just want to know what you are planning on doing."

"I don't know." Marron said softly.

"What do you want to do?" Bulma asked.

"I…I don't know." Marron responded. "But I know what I don't want."

"And what's that?"

"I don't want to hurt Goten. I don't want to take this from him. So I don't think I'm going to go anywhere."

"You can't go to a regular doctor." Bulma said.

"I know." Marron nodded.

"You will have to come to capsule corps and see my doctor." Bulma said.

"I can't afford your doctor." Marron laughed.

"No but I can. And I will. This is important." She crossed her arms. "The first few months of pregnancy with a saiyjin are hell on earth. So just stop by whenever you feel the need, and I will take care of you."

"Ok." Marron nodded before heading back inside to tell everyone of her decision.

"Hey." Pan smiled opening her bedroom door when Piccolo knocked on it. "Why are you here?"

"We need to talk." Piccolo said before ducking inside her room. "I talked to your mom."

"Yeah?" Pan asked closing her bedroom door behind him. What did her mom have to do with this.

"She says your dad is going to start training you to join the Galactic Patrol." He said coldly.

"Yeah. I told you that was what I wanted to do." Pan said with a shrug.

"I don't want you joining the Galactic Patrol!" Piccolo growled. "I already told you that."

"That's not a choice you get to make." Pan argued putting her hands on her hips.

"You're gonna get hurt!" Piccolo shot back. "You could die!"

"Why do you always have so little confidence in me?" Pan asked exasperated.

"It's not like that." The Namekian responded through clenched teeth.

"Then what is it Mr. Piccolo?" Pan asked. She knew the answer, she had known the answer since she had transformed. But if he would just say it….

"No." Piccolo growled.

"Well, then you really don't have a say." Pan said harshly.

"Don't do this to me." Piccolo said softly there was pain in his voice.

"Then stop pretending like nothing happened!" Pan shouted. "Stop acting like the week we spent together didn't happen!"

"Why can't you understand that that's why I don't want you to go?" Piccolo argued. "I have NEVER had feelings like this before, you can't expect me just to suddenly understand what's going on inside of me."

"No, but I can expect you to understand what's going on with me. Because I'm not something new, you know me better than anyone so I expect you to have confidence in me." Pan shot back.

"I just don't want you to get hurt." Piccolo said softly.

"Why?" Pan asked.

"You know why." Piccolo growled.

"You haven't said it." Pan said softly. "I won't let myself believe it until you say it."

"Pan…" He muttered as he walked closer to her. "Pan…" He said again as he buried his fingers in her hair and forced her to look up at him.

"Yes?" She asked softly, her black eyes shining as they looked at each other.

"I…" He started.

"Say it." She encouraged.

"I don't know how." He said, she could feel him trembling.

"Just say it." Pan said.

"Pan…" He muttered.

"Piccolo." She said tenderly.

"I think I'm in love with you." He said softly as he held her head between his hands.

"Do ya?" Pan asked with a smile.

"Yeah." Piccolo said, feeling a little relieved.

"I think I love you too." Pan said standing on her tip toes trying to get closer to him. She growled and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him down to kiss her.

It wasn't their first kiss, they had kissed a few times in the week after her transformation, but it was a completely different type of kiss. The ones they had shared before could be described as fragile or insecure. But this kiss was different. The kiss they shared today was more passionate. They both were sure of the others feelings and due to that they had no reason to hold back. Piccolo grabbed Pan's hips and lifted her off the ground pinning her to her bedroom wall. He had never kissed anyone but her but as his lips moved against hers he felt like he would never want to do this with anyone else.

(smut censored here full detail on Archive of Our Own under the same name)

"I didn't think it would be like that." Pan panted.

"What did you think it would be like?" Piccolo asked smiling down at her. He too was obviously winded.

"Not nearly that good." Pan muttered causing his smile to grow.

Goten sat alone at home, he was sure if Trunks wanted to talk to him he would come over. Oh how Goten hoped he would come over. He needed Trunks right now more than he ever thought possible. He needed someone, someone to help him through the most serious time of his life. Goten had never fathomed having a child. He had assumed that would not happen since he was with Trunks. Adoption may have been an option but they never spoke of anything more serious than living together. The day faded and there was no sign of Trunks. He couldn't really blame the other though. This wasn't his mess and he probably didn't want to be a part of it.

Goten stared out his living room window as the sunlight faded into twilight. The first day of his New Year was not at all what he hoped for. But he could not help but feel hopeful for the future. He was having a child, and while he may not be perfect he knew he could be a good dad. After all he knew very well what not to do. His front door opened causing Goten to rip his gaze away from the sky. Trunks stood in the doorway in a tailored Black and Blue suit. It seemed to fit the other perfectly, the sight caused Goten's heart to race.

"Hey kid." Trunks said with a smile before tossing a dry cleaning bag at him. "Put this on we're going out."

"I'm not that much younger than you." Goten grumbled as he opened the bag. Inside was a black and red suit almost identical to the black and blue one Trunks was wearing. "Where are we going?"

"Out." Trunks smiled as Goten began to undress.

Goten quickly took his casual clothing off before donning the suit. It fit him perfectly, and was probably the most comfortable thing he had ever worn. Was this what it felt like to be a Briefs? After struggling with the tie for three minutes Goten sighed and smiled pleadingly at his partner. Trunks rolled his eyes but walked over and corrected the tie. When he tightened it a little too tight Goten let out a small moan. They had experimented with bondage in the past and Goten was actually quite fond of it, but the cheating had come too soon after for them to fully experience it. The look Trunks gave him as a result was encouraging, and almost promising of more.

Once he was dressed fully Trunks grabbed Goten's hand and led him out the door. Goten could tell that the other was excited. This got his heart racing. It had been a long time since they had done anything romantic. It had been at least a year since they had gone on a real date. Was that what this was? A date? Goten blushed softly at the thought. It would be nice. Trunks was a very high profile person, so it would be nice to remind the public that he was taken, since he was in fact taken again.

"Where are we going?" Goten asked as they stopped next to a white limo.

"Out!" Trunks answered with a smile before opening the door and motioning for Goten to get in.

Goten ducked in and looked around. The first thing he saw was his brother, who was also in a suit and Bulla who was dressed in a pale blue cocktail dress. What were they doing here? It must be a double date. Goten felt a hint of disappointment. He had kind of wanted a night alone with Trunks, or maybe he just wanted the back seat alone with Trunks. Goten blushed softly as the thought caused blood to rush downwards.

"Ok." Trunks said sliding in next to him and closing the door.

Trunks gave a soft tap on the window that divided them from the driver prompting the car into motion. He then turned and shot Goten a dazzling smile. Pulling wine out of the mini fridge Trunks poured all of them generous glasses.

"All right so New Year's Eve was kinda a bust." Trunks said causing the other three to chuckle. "So tonight, we celebrate the New Year and New beginnings."

There was something about Trunks tonight, Goten couldn't quite put his finger on it. He had seen Trunks behave like this before, at his mother's parties in order to get donations, or when he would stop by the children's hospital to read. He was putting on a show, being very charismatic. The good mood seemed to seep off of him and affect everyone else. They were all two glasses of wine and a few good memories in before they arrived at their destination.

"All right first stop!" Trunks smiled before tipping the driver and ushering them out of the limo.

Their first stop appeared to be a rather classy restaurant, but this wasn't one located in town, they must have been driving for much longer than Goten realized. This restaurant was near the coast. Salt hung in the cool evening air, the ocean was Goten's favorite place. This was something Trunks knew. Is this why he brought us here? Goten wondered, but Trunks grabbing his hand snapped him back into reality. Goten blushed as Trunks pulled him into the restaurant, Bulla and Gohan following behind.

"I have a reservation for Briefs." Trunks said walking up to the Hostess.

"Table for four?" The woman asked.

"That would be us." Trunks said winking at her. A pang of jealousy shot through Goten. This was always the worst part of going out, Trunks flirting with everybody but him. This was why they didn't go out.

The hostess blushed, obviously she would Trunks was one of the best looking men in the world, and motioned for them to follow her. They headed past most of the front dining to one of the private dining rooms near the back of the restaurant. It was there that she left them, no menu's and no offer for drinks. Goten looked at Trunks who seemed very pleased with himself. He led Goten over to the table in the center of the room and pulled out his chair. As soon as they sat they were brought wine and dinner and then left alone. More wine? It was almost as if Trunks were trying to get them all drunk. Goten couldn't pull his eyes away from Trunks the whole evening. He was so in love with the other that just watching him interact with others was entertaining. Goten was almost too intoxicated to talk so he chose not to. The others seemed to be getting along well without him though. Goten couldn't help but notice in moments of silence Trunks kept looking at Gohan. It was as if they had a secret. Fear filled Goten's chest. Was Trunks seeing his brother on the side? Did Bulla know?

"Hey, are you ready to go?" Trunks asked Goten softly snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Oh… um yeah." Goten said with a smile allowing Trunks to lead him back to the limo.

"I have to go to the bathroom." Bulla said as they approached the car.

"Oh. Here I'll walk you there." Gohan said offering Bulla his arm. "We will be right back."

The other couple left them as Trunks helped Goten into the car where he chose to simply lay on the floor for a minute. He lay face down in the soft carpeting. This limo was obviously made to be used privately.

"I love when you are in that position." Trunks muttered as he got into the car.

Goten smirked and raised his ass in the air. Trunks let out a strained moan and grabbed it causing Goten to let out a gasp. But Trunks stopped it there. He tapped on the window urging the car forward seemingly forgetting about the other two whom they had brought with them. Goten seemed to have forgotten about them too as he relaxed into the floor.

Their second stop was a pier. Or more boat at the pier. Trunks paid a man some cash before leading Goten on to a brand new house boat. It was rather large with a full deck. There was a hot tub in the middle of the deck but also plenty more room. Enough room that someone had set up table that held more wine and desserts. Trunks took Goten's hand and led him up to the wheel.

"Here." Trunks said as he grabbed the others hands. "Press this button to lift the anchor and retract the walkway." Goten held the button down as instructed. "Now this one to start to motor, and move this to get us moving."

"Is the captain gonna be ok with this?" Goten asked with a small intoxicated laugh.

"We are the only people on this boat, so I suppose that makes you the captain." Trunks said with a smile. He leaned forward and kissed the others neck softly.

Music began to drift from the cabin of the ship. Trunks reached around and pressed the auto pilot button before turning Goten to face him. Goten was only a few inches shorter than him, but it had always been just right. Trunks looked down at the other and held him close, swaying gently to the music that was playing. They danced for what seemed like hours, simply holding each other and rocking in each other's arms. Trunks littered Goten's face with small kisses.

"Oh no." Trunks said softly.

"Hmm?" Goten asked still in a daze.

"We forgot your brother. And my sister." Trunks said rather unenthusiastically.

"On purpose." Goten said softly.

"You're right." Trunks grinned. "I wanted to be alone with you."

"Me too." Goten mumbled burying his face in Trunk's neck.

Goten hadn't been this happy in a long time. He had missed having this kind of relationship with Trunks. In this moment he felt very secure in his place in the other's heart. But the moment passed quickly as Trunks phone went off. Trunks pulled away from Goten and answered his phone.

"I'll be right back." Trunks said before speaking into the phone and walking away.

Goten stood alone for a moment, the warmth of the moment had been over taken by the cold sea air. Trunks had tried to hide it, but Goten recognized the number that had displayed on the screen. It was his father, Goku's number. They must still be seeing each other. This news hurt, and made him feel cold inside as well. An emotional coldness, though he held his coat close to him he could not warm up. Goten watched Trunks argue into the phone, they were arguing…didn't people only argue in relationships. Had Trunks brought him here to let him down easy. Was Trunks still more interested in Goku than Goten?

Goten watched Trunks hang up his phone, then throw it rather aggressively at the side of the boat causing it to shatter. That must have been a pretty intense argument. Goten looked away before Trunks could notice him looking. Trunks still seemed upset when he got back.

"I'm sorry about that." Trunks said softly getting only a nod and an averted gaze from Goten. Trunks tensed. Things had been going so well before Goku had called.

"Can we go home now?" Goten asked, struggling with a new wave of tears. He hated that he was such a cry baby.

"But…" Trunks protested.

"I saw your phone, I know that was my dad. You've been flirting with my brother, and the hostess and as much as I would like to ignore these things, I'm tired of being hurt by you Trunks. I wanna go home." Goten said shakily.

"I wasn't flirting with your brother." Trunks declared.

"I saw you checking him out." Goten growled.

"I wasn't!" Trunks shook his head.

"Yes you were!" Goten argued. "All night, that's my brother! How would you feel if I was checking out Bulla all evening?"

"You are seeing something that isn't there." Trunks denied. Yes he had been giving Gohan a lot of attention tonight, but that was simply because Gohan had helped him plan this evening and they had to make sure that everything went as planned. Which it seemed it was.

"Trunks." Goten protested tears filling his eyes.

"No. Listen." Trunks demanded. "I'm sorry, I am so sorry I hurt you. I know what I did was wrong, and I knew when I was doing it that it was wrong. It was childish of me, no it was cruel of me to do that. I knew it would hurt you. I didn't want to hurt you. I suppose I was hoping it would pass and nobody would ever know. But that's not what happened. I should have been more careful of your feelings. I never should have made you feel less than what you are. You are the most amazing person in the world Goten."

"Trunks…" Goten said, he had to turn away as the tears escaped his eyes. The other's apology hurt, it brought all of his feelings of insecurity to the forefront. Every memory of not being good enough for Trunks, every time he had caught Trunks flirting with someone else.

"No." Trunks said, his voice growing soft. "Listen to me." Goten took a shaky breath and nodded.

"I love you Goten. You are my best friend and you have been my best friend our entire lives. Sometimes I think back to when we met the me from the future and I wonder how empty he must be without you. In his timeline you were never born, but you are the other half of me so I know his other half is missing. But my other half is right in front of me and all I ever do is take him for granted." Trunks held Goten's hands tightly in his. "Goten I promise I will never do anything like this again. I will make sure that you know every second of every day how important you are to me." Trunks released one of his hands and took only Goten's left hand in his. "Goten…" Their eyes met, there were still tears in Goten's but he was no longer crying. Trunks slid down to his knee. "I'm a terrible person, and I've been a terrible boyfriend…please let me prove that I can be better. But let me do it as your husband."


	9. Chapter 9

"Ah they left us." Bulla said sadly.

"Nah it's ok it was all part of the plan." Gohan said with a smile.

"Well do I finally get to know what the plan was, since our part in it is over." Bulla complained.

"Yeah, Trunks is gonna ask Goten to marry him. He called me this morning it was seriously a lot of stuff to get done in like eight hours." Gohan complained.

"Do you think Goten is gonna say yes?" Bulla asked.

"Who knows." Gohan shrugged. "But I got us a place to stay for the night."

"I really don't like hotels." Bulla muttered.

"That's ok. They have like tiny little beach houses that they rent by the night, I got us one of those. And they are staying the night on a boat." Gohan smiled.

"Oh? So are you suggesting we go back to our room?" Bulla asked raising her eyebrow.

"Well, there is a really nice shower." Gohan smiled.

"I'm more concerned about the durability of the bed." Bulla said shooting Gohan a hot gaze.

They hadn't done anything beyond touching each other since they had reunited; Bulla intended to change that tonight. Gohan smiled and threw his arm around her shoulder leading her down to the beach. The place they were staying was at the far end of the beach which allowed them a long slow walk next to the ocean.

"Goten loves the ocean." Gohan said softly as they walked.

"What about you?" Bulla asked shifting his arm off her shoulder and holding his hand instead.

"I prefer the mountains." Gohan whispered as they stopped to stare out to the ocean. He was sure it was because all of his fond childhood memories took place in the mountains. Training with Piccolo, adventuring with Icarus; it made him ache for those times.

Gohan looked over at Bulla; she too seemed to be lost in thought as she stared at the ocean. He wondered what she was thinking about. Her eyes were glossed over and her mouth was slightly open. It did not look like she was wearing makeup tonight, but still she took his breath away. He had never felt this way about Videl so it really took him off guard. He hadn't expected everything with Bulla to feel so new. He felt like he was much younger again. Gohan felt full of hope, and dared to let himself dream of a future. Would she want a future with him? Did she dream of marriage and a family? Gohan shook the thoughts off, they were foolish thoughts brought on by the excitement of the evening. Surely if she wanted a family she would look for someone younger, someone who hadn't already been married and had a child. Someone who's child wasn't older than her.

"Why you lookin like that?" Bulla asked snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Like what?" Gohan asked smiling at her words.

"Grumpy." Bulla said raising an eyebrow.

"I was just thinking."

"Grumpy thoughts? What were you thinking?" She asked tugging on his hands.

"Not right now." Gohan said softly before kissing her forehead. "It's a conversation for a much later date."

"But it's just gonna eat at you." Bulla pointed out.

"No." Gohan denied. "It's not that kind of thought."

"Are you sure?" Bulla asked softly.

"Yeah. Come on, let's go see where we are staying." Gohan said leading her down the beach.

Every time she matched his pace he sped up so that he was almost pulling her, by the time they made it to their destination they were both out of breath from laughing. It was a small moment to enjoy with so much going on in life right now. It was simple, but it reminded her of when she was a child. She used to chase her father and she was never able to catch him. Her father, Goten and Gohan had spoken to him this morning. Bulla looked over at Gohan.

"Hey, you saw my dad this morning didn't you?" Bulla asked softly.

"Well that kinda came out of nowhere, but yeah." Gohan said smiling over at her. "Why?"

"Is he…doing well?" Bulla asked uncertainly.

"Why don't you go see for yourself?" Gohan asked.

"No." Bulla said shaking her head.

"You know you get your stubbornness from him." Gohan said with a laugh.

"That's what they say." Bulla muttered.

"That being said, he's been alive a lot longer than you and therefore has had more time to be stubborn so you might as well give up. He is definitely gonna outlast you." This earned Gohan a blow to the arm.

"Prick." She growled.

"Hey." He said grabbing her hand. "He's fine, and I am sure he misses you as much as you miss him."

With this he pulled her into his arms and headed into the building where they were planning to stay the night. As he carried her through the door he couldn't help but relate the situation to his honeymoon with Videl. They had also gone to the ocean. Videl had planned it since it was her father that paid for it; she told him she thought he needed to see something other than mountains. That was when he decided he didn't like the ocean.

The building looked like a one bedroom apartment, the lobby area and the kitchen were connected, but the kitchen appeared fully equipped. They weren't gonna be here long enough to use it though. Just for the night, school started again tomorrow and so they would have to head home early. But tonight was about them. Gohan carried her through the main area straight back to the bedroom dropping her on the bed.

"What do you want to do now?" Gohan asked sitting on the floor in front of the bed so that he could look up at her. He ran his hands up and down her legs as he did this.

"Maybe…a shower?" Bulla said nervously.

"Together?" Gohan asked suddenly tensing.

"O…or alone." Bulla blushed looking away.

"What do you want to do?" Gohan asked.

"Alone." She said softly. "You go first."

"O-okay." Gohan said. He hesitated for a moment before standing.

He knew why she wanted to shower alone. Her father had pointed it out quite clearly. He had smelled like Videl the night before, and Bulla was afraid to see him naked because she feared she would be able to tell. As he walked into the bathroom and undressed he felt a wave of guilt. He had a few bruises on his chest, bite marks. How was she going to react to them? He had just managed to secure her as his, he didn't want her to walk away from him now. Gohan turned on the shower and stepped into the hot stream of water.

"No." Goten said softly.

"O-ok." Trunks responded obviously flustered.

"N-not right now!" Goten said quickly. "I…I want you Trunks…but there's still so much I'm unsure of right now. I will marry you, but it's gonna be a while. I'm not ready to live with you again yet, let alone marry you."

"But…you do want to?" Trunks asked softly with hope in his eyes.

"Yes, I do want to marry you, but don't be surprised if it doesn't happen for a year or two." Goten said with a soft laugh.

"That's all I need." Trunks said before standing up and grabbing the others face. "You are all I need Goten. You are all I've ever needed. I'm so sorry for hurting you. I'm sorry for making you feel worthless. I love you."

Goten nodded before stretching to cause their lips to collide. The mere touch of their skin took Goten's breath away. Trunks wrapped his arms around Goten and pulled him against his chest deepening the kiss. Goten was his now. He wasn't going to lose him again. He wasn't going to let him go.

"Why are you here? I told you I didn't want to see you." Goten could hear fear and disgust in Trunks voice.

Moments before Trunks had left the bed and headed out on deck. He had left so quickly that the motion of the bed woke Goten up. Goten had then snuck over to the door to hear what for.

"We've been through this before I think." Goku responded. "And that's not really a decision you get to make."

"Yes it is!" Trunks argued. Goten stood and looked through the curtain so that he could see them on deck.

Trunks stood a few feet away from Goku his back to Goten. Goku faced him with a cocky smile and his arms crossed over his chest. Goten felt sick. He didn't know what was going on but he didn't like the look on his father's face. Obviously power had gone further to his head than anyone knew. Anyone but Trunks it seemed. Trunks however was facing this as though he had seen it many times and knew what to expect.

"Oh really?" Goku laughed.

"Yes." Trunks declared standing tall. "I have nothing to fear from you anymore."

"Is that so?"

"Goten knows we had sex and he still wants me. You can't blackmail me anymore." Trunks stated.

"Really? Does he know everything?" Goku asked with a chuckle. Trunks froze. Goku looked past Trunks, seeing Goten watching them. But he didn't alert Trunks to this fact. "Does he know what I caught you doing when you stayed over at 15? Does he know what you began doing to me when you would stay over at 16? Does he know what you begged me to do the night you graduated?"

"No. But I'm not afraid of him finding out anymore." Trunks said softly. "If anyone should be afraid it's you."

"Why is that?" Goku asked.

"Because the truth makes you look a lot worse than it makes me look." Trunks said grinning.

"Yeah but you have no proof for your truth, you broke your phone." Goku smiled. "And making those kinds of accusations without proof…"

This took the smile from Trunks face. He had broken his phone that had all of the messages since this all had started so many years ago. He should have just stayed level headed and not broken his phone. But he hadn't planned this far ahead. He had been focused on Goten. Goten! Trunks shot a glance back to the cabin. He hoped Goten was still asleep. He wasn't, Goten was now standing in the doorway looking very angry.

"Leave now!" Goten shouted at his father.

"Oh? But don't you wanna hear about my exciting sex life with your boyfriend that's been going on for twenty years?" Goku asked his son.

"I don't care!" Goten shouted. Twenty years, that was much longer than Trunks and he had been together, but that also meant it was going on the whole time they were together.

"Is that so?" Goku asked walking towards his son.

"Yes. Now leave, and leave Trunks alone or I swear you will regret it." Goten said, his eyes were cold but intent.

"I'll leave but it won't be long before he comes back to me." Goku said mockingly. "He knows where he belongs."

With this Goku took off leaving Goten and Trunks alone. Trunks kept his back to Goten, too embarrassed to say anything. Goten stared at his back, he was shaking. Goten walked silently up behind Trunks and wrapped his arms tightly around the other man.

"I forgot to tell him that we were getting married." Goten said softly.

"Goten…you don't…" Trunks stammered.

"Twenty years Trunks." Goten said softly. "You were just a kid twenty years ago."

"Yeah." Trunks responded, his shaking had subsided as they spoke.

"That's not ok." Goten said. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was afraid." Trunks said softly. "I was older than you, and while you wanted to spar and get stronger all I wanted to do was wrestle you to the ground so I could kiss you."

"Oh." Goten muttered blushing as he laid his head against Trunks' back. "What about after, after you knew how I felt?"

"I…I didn't want you knowing something had happened. I told him I didn't want to anymore. But he was gonna tell you…and he had pictures…and videos." Trunks stammered.

"Trunks that's so illegal." Goten said softly.

"But he's the strongest person we know." Trunks said softly. "How was I supposed to stand up to that?"

"Why didn't you tell your dad?" Goten asked. Trunks pulled away from him and turned to face him.

"You and your brother seem to think for some reason my father has some sense of reason. But I know my father, and he would not have reacted well to that. I probably would have been kicked out if I did." Trunks glowered.

"I think you're wrong." Goten said softly. "I think you are blind to exactly how much your father cares for you."

"Sure." Trunks said his voice filled with disbelief. "Hey Goten?"

"Yeah?" Goten responded.

"Please don't tell my sister about this…"

"Okay." Goten nodded. He was sure that Bulla didn't need to know this information, at least not now.

"Hey Goten?" He asked again.

"Yeah?"

"Can we go lay down?" Trunks asked his voice rather shaky.

"Yeah!"

"W-will you hold me?" Trunks asked. Goten froze for a moment. They had been together for a long time but Trunks had never asked him for this. He had always tried too hard to be the more dominant party, Goten understood why now.  
"Yes, come on." Goten said grabbing the others hand and pulling him back into the cabin.

Goten laid down on the bed and pulled Trunks down with him. He wrapped his arms around his best friend as he felt the other begin to shake. Goten should have paid more attention. He should have realized Trunks needed him. He had been so selfish, only paying mind to his own fears. He should have been home a little more often. He shook the guilt away, he should be focusing on Trunks right now, not himself.

"You okay?" Goten asked softly.

Trunks shook his head and buried his head deeper into Goten's chest. Trunks did not want to talk about it but Goten felt compelled to ask. He wanted to know about it. He wanted to know everything, but most of all he wanted to know how to make it all go away. He kissed the top of Trunks head offering what little support he could. Together they lay onboard the rocking ship off in their own world, one where nobody else could get to them. Together, how it was meant to be.

Gohan sat on the bed listening to Bulla shower. It was something he had actually come to enjoy. She showered every morning before work. He still had no idea where she worked and she refused to enlighten him. He had concluded that one day he would just stalk her to work. He heard the shower turn off and his heart beat sped up. He had taken the robe, leaving her with the hotel towels that had been stocked beforehand. Would she come out in that? Or would she wear her dress? Trunks had gotten her a bag of clothes and dropped it off beforehand, but what if none of them were what she wanted to wear? She seemed pretty bent on having sex with him tonight. Was it because she knew he had been with Videl after Christmas? Would she notice or comment on the marks? His thoughts were lost as he heard the bathroom door open. Turning he caught her walking out of the bathroom. Gohan froze. Bulla's hair had been pinned to the top of her head like a crown, she looked entirely too regal in her long green nightgown. He stood to approach her but hesitated.

"You look amazing." Gohan said softly.

"Thanks." Bulla said, the pink tone that came to her skin when she blushed only made her look more angelic.

Gohan slowly walked towards her. He could feel the bruises he had received over the last week almost as if they were burning him. As he closed the distance between them he felt truly unworthy of where he stood in her life. Vegeta had said it early this morning, she was a princess. Regardless of where they lived and what role they played in that world, Bulla was a princess and he was not a prince. He was nothing compared to her. She deserved better, but for some reason she wanted him.

Gohan captured her hands in his and looked down at her. She was perfection, a goddess it was almost as if someone who looked like this should not exist. His heart sped up when she smiled at him.

"Bulla…" He said softly to her.

"Yeah?" She asked laying her head on his chest. This prompted him to wrap his arms around her and tighten his grip.

"I'm sorry." He felt no need to elaborate.

"Don't do it again." Bulla muttered, knowing exactly what he was referring to.

"We don't have to…" Gohan said softly. He didn't want her to feel forced into anything. And he knew that her awareness of the situation probably made her feel like she had to in order to keep his interest.

"Promise you won't go to someone else?" Bulla asked softly.

To this Gohan nodded and kissed the halo of her hair. He wanted her, he couldn't deny that. But he would give her as much or as little space as needed to keep her around. She was what he wanted right now and he was done ruining it. He was done fighting with her, from now on he would give her what she wanted. All Gohan wanted was her, so he kissed her lips softly and led her to a the bed in the center of the room. It was shaped like a heart and covered in a red blanket. This was truly intended to be a honeymoon destination he supposed it was a sort of honeymoon, a way to ring in their new relationship.

"Bulma?" Vegeta said softly as he felt his wife slip into bed next to him.

"Yeah?" She asked as she curled up close to him.

"I love you." He said wrapping his arms around her and giving her a soft kiss.

"I love you too." She muttered as she kissed him back.

Vegeta held his wife tenderly in his arms, he had never held anybody else like this, and he had never wanted to. Holding her made him feel at peace, it made him feel safe. He couldn't fall asleep if she wasn't with him, he had to be sure she was safe, and the only place he could be sure of that was if she were in his arms. Bulma wrapped her arms around him pushing into the kiss, intensifying it. This took Vegeta by surprise. But he wasn't one to complain about a good thing. Instead he kissed her back slipping his tongue in between her lips. Bulma let out a soft moan. He was sure he hadn't heard a noise like that from her in a while.

"Where on earth did this come from?" Vegeta asked jokingly.

"Honestly?" Bulma said softly. "I guess seeing all these people hooking up made me wanna hook up with you."

"Woman." Vegeta growled before kissing her again. She was teasing him that much he was sure of. He wasn't going to let her get away with it either. Or maybe he would, he was just happy for the current situation.

Bulma kissed him back and nudged him on to his back. Vegeta grabbed her and pulled her into his lap so that he could look up at her. Perfect, he had always thought Bulma was perfect, even as youth faded from her she still grew more beautiful as each day passed. His wife, his partner, his queen how he was complete the day he realized it was her. He felt her grind against his erection and he let out a moan of his own. This encouraged Bulma to continue. It was obvious she wanted to control the rate of this so Vegeta relaxed and allowed her to have her way, submitting when she wanted his shirt and pants off.

Vegeta tensed as he watched her remove her own clothes. Her bra and underwear were both white and covered in lace. He groaned softly, she knew he liked lace. She shot him a rather sassy smile but that only encouraged him more. He sat up and grabbed Bulma pushing her down on the bed. He paused for a moment afraid that he had been too rough, but she seemed fine. Bulma smiled up at him and jerked her hips encouragingly.

"God woman I want you so bad." He groaned.

"Then take me, I'm right here." She muttered.

Vegeta decided to take her up on that offer. It had been too long since he had her. They spent most of their time in silence because she didn't have the energy to talk and run a company. She was right, they needed their children back in their lives so that she could rest. If she kept it up at this rate she would drive herself to the grave.

(Smut censored out here)

Vegeta sighed and pulled her close. He definitely desired her and wished he could have her more often, but then he would have to give up nights like tonight and he was sure he would be happy either way. Vegeta held her as they both drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

Vegeta was sure he had been asleep, but suddenly he was wide awake. He stared up at the ceiling as he tried to comprehend why exactly he was awake. Kakarot. Vegeta tensed, he hadn't seen him since the news came out that him and Trunks were having sex. Why was he here now? Vegeta glanced over at his wife who was asleep next to him. How many times had he gone running for Kakarot? Surely his wife deserved more. Still Vegeta could not resist climbing out of bed. He walked to the window where he could see the shadow of Kakarot standing on his lawn. Vegeta released a shaky breath.

"Dude go, just come back." Bulma muttered from the bed.

"Bulma…" He said softly but she just waved at him.

She was a better woman than he deserved. Vegeta smiled at her before he opened the bedroom window and slid out. Kakarot met him in the sky, keeping a few feet between them. Kakarot signaled for him to follow and headed up to the roof where he landed. Vegeta joined him; this was where they usually ended up when the other came to talk. Kakarot had always been taller than him, usually Vegeta didn't notice it, but when they were alone it seemed to be all he could focus on. Kakarot was taller, and stronger. For a long time Vegeta had wondered what it felt like to have that body wrapped around his. He had given up any real hope when he had gotten close to Bulma.

"Why are you here?" Vegeta asked his friend, his tone low so as to not cause a disturbance.

"I…I'm leaving." Kakarot responded after some hesitation.

"Leaving?" Vegeta asked tensing.

"Yeah."

"Where are you going?" Vegeta asked raising his voice slightly.

"I'm just…gonna go and stop ruining peoples' lives." Kakarot said.

"What do you mean?" Vegeta asked warily, there was more to the story, there had to be.

"I'm sorry." Kakarot said looking away.

"For?" Vegeta asked getting irritated.

"Do you believe in soulmates?" Kakarot asked ignoring the others questions.

"You could at least answer me first." Vegeta glowered. But the smile on the others face proved that this wasn't going to happen. Vegeta paused for a moment. "Haven't we had this conversation before?"

"Yeah, but that was so long ago." Kakarot responded.

Vegeta stared at the other for a moment. Did he believe in soulmates? The first time Kakarot had asked him this question was when he had returned to earth after the destruction of Namek. His answer had been no then. But now, things were different. Vegeta felt different. He felt torn.

"Yes." He finally responded. "Bulma is proof enough for me."

"Why do you always have to be so mean to me." Kakarot responded pouting, but then he became serious again. "Do you think people have more than one soulmate?"

Again…his opinion had changed of this over time. At the time his children were growing he would have denied any possibility of people cosmically belonging to more than one person. But now, now he was different and all of these thoughts were making him insecure.

"Yes." Vegeta said averting his eyes.

"Do you feel sad when we are apart?"

"Kakarot what is the meaning of all this?" Vegeta didn't want to answer.

"Do you think…in another reality…" Kakarot started staring closely at the Prince.

"In another reality what?" Vegeta asked. But he felt he knew what the other was going to say.

"Do you think…in another reality…I got to you before she did?" Kakarot finally finished.

Vegeta met the others eyes. How he hoped so. Vegeta longed for the other now, but was too devoted to his wife to ever consider it. But in another life, where he spent time with Kakarot and not Bulma…it would likely be Kakarot.

"Maybe." Vegeta responded, not wanting to admit that he longed for that reality.

"Vegeta…" He started.

"What?"

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry I hurt Trunks." Kakarot said softly. "I really didn't intend to take it so far."

"What are you talking about?" Vegeta growled, on edge now remembering why he had been avoiding Kakarot.

"What I did with Trunks…I'm sorry." Kakarot said.

"He's an adult, he makes his own choices." Vegeta said, the fact that his son had gotten Kakarot and he had not honestly stung a little.

"No." Kakarot shook his head. "I didn't really give him a choice."

"What do you mean?" Vegeta stepped further from the other. Was he implying that he had raped Trunks.

"I blackmailed him." Kakarot said. "I told him that if he cut things off I would tell you and Goten."

"But I've known the whole time." Vegeta clenched his teeth.

"He didn't know that." Kakarot mumbled. "And I couldn't have you…so he was the only other option."

"I think you are right." Vegeta stood facing Kakarot, his body was tense due to this new information. He saw Kakarot differently now. "You should really leave and not come back."

"I thought you might say that." Kakarot shot him a smile. "So really I guess I am here to say goodbye."

"Go on then." Vegeta growled weakly swinging at Kakarot landing a soft tap on his chest.

Kakarot ignored his instructions and instead came much closer. Vegeta froze unsure what to expect. He definitely did not expect the other to wrap his arms around him. Kakarot's lips descended on his, Vegeta didn't struggle. This was goodbye, this was the last time he would see him, surely one kiss shared between them would not be so wrong. Vegeta felt as though he was safe for the first time in his life. He didn't wanna let that go. He could feel the connection, a deep one that was likely healthier in another time. The kiss was long, and deep. Vegeta forgot everything but the soft rhythm of Kakarots lips moving against his. It ended too soon, leaving Vegeta wanting more that he knew he could never have.

"Goodbye…my friend." Kakarot muttered as he held Vegeta close. Upon releasing him Kakarot took to the sky and Vegeta watched him leave for the last time.

"I'm sorry." Leif said softly as he stood in the doorway of Marron's childhood bedroom.

She sat on her bed with her back to him. She hadn't spoken to him since the day before when they had fought at the breakfast table, and then fought when she had returned from her walk with Bulma. She didn't seem in the mood for apologies as she had been ignoring him for almost two days. He was leaving, he had to get back to work. They had an apartment, and a cat. He sighed as he stared at the back of her head. He wanted so badly for her to return with him, but she had made it clear she was staying in town.

"Prove it." She finally muttered, leaving him without words.

He wasn't sure how to prove it, she was vague and it frustrated him, regardless of her feelings she could at least tell him how to make it better. He should have been nicer, more sensitive about the situation but he had been hurt. He had never been in love before, and he often felt out of sorts when it came to Marron. She was different from any other woman he had ever met. He could tell now that was a repercussion of her alternate upbringing. But he couldn't say he disliked it. What he disliked was now, he disliked her being mad at him and he hated being mad at her. He just wanted her to come home with him.

"I have to go back to work." Leif said softly.

"I have to stay here." Marron stated finally turning to face him.

"I know." Leif replied. "Where does this leave us?"

"Can we put us on hold until after this baby comes?" Marron asked softly.

"As long as you put everyone else on hold too." Leif said. "I'm not gonna sit idly by and let another person have you."

"Why are you so bossy?" Marron asked sharply.

"I'm not bossing you around." Leif said. "I am giving you an option, Marron I still want to be with you. I still want to marry you. But I am not going to wait for you if you have no intention of waiting for me."

"I guess that is reasonable." Marron responded reluctantly. She looked at him and took a shaky breath. "Please wait for me?"

Leif sighed in relief. He had expected this to go different. Or at least take longer. He nodded before walking close to her and giving her a soft kiss on the forehead. He wasn't going to stay away for long, but he would give her the space she wanted, and hopefully come up with a way to prove to her that he wanted her forever.


	10. Chapter 10

Gohan was not ready to come back to work. It had been a long few weeks and he really had gotten no rest. A few of his students had remarked about him 'having too many' over the break. They would be right. But that wasn't what had him worn out, it was just about everything else. He needed a nap so he had given his senior class a free hour. Most of them left since it was around noon, but a few of them stayed behind and either worked or slept as well. Most of these students had been taking his classes since their freshman year of college. They were an awkward group of students he had grown very fond of.

"Yo! Mr. Son!' One of the students shouted from their desk.

"Yea?" He asked looking at the student.

"I heard you got divorced?" This helped him identify the speaker who was a redhead that sat in the front of the class.

"Where are you getting your information?" Gohan asked squinting at the other.

"Oh so it is true." Miko asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Gohan admitted.

"Why did you get a divorce?" The young man asked.

"It just wasn't meant to be." Gohan said softly crossing his arms.

"Then why did you even marry her?" It was an obvious question so it had an obvious answer.

"I thought it was meant to be." Gohan said with a shrug. "It's crazy how time changes things."

"Well, it's lunch time and we are going to eat. Wanna come with us ya poor bastard?"

"No thanks I didn't really do anything over break. I think I am gonna get some papers graded." He laughed realizing that it was probably a bad idea to go to lunch with his students. He didn't want the rest of them to think he had favorites.

"Hey Miko, we're going where that cute girl works." One of them announced.

"You sure? Cute girls." Miko offered.

"No offense but we likely have different taste in women." Gohan laughed. Plus he had a women, they just didn't need to know that. eH

The other shrugged and waved goodbye to him before bolting out the door to follow his friends. Gohan chuckled. He had been married his entire college career and had never really made a lot of friends. The actions of his students sometimes made him long to go back to that time. Gohan shook his head and decided to start grading papers. It was well past time for that. Working through his lunch Gohan managed to get all of the tests and papers graded. When this was complete he simply floated through the rest of his day pining for the end of it when he was going to train. He needed to train more actively it would be good for his health. He was going to spend these training sessions with Pan pushing both of them to their very limits. He wanted to be stronger than he was before, he wanted to feel that adrenaline that he had felt before when he defeated cell. He wanted to feel strong and worthy again.

Bad dreams, Trunks had been having a lot of those recently. Since Goten left him the nightmares had taken hold of his dream realm. Trunks struggled, he knew it was a dream he should be able to wake himself up. He felt Goten leave the bed and in his mind he screamed. Please come back! Please come back, PLEASE COME BACK! Goten, he needed Goten and everything that Goten represented. Mainly the safety. That was what the younger Saiyjin had always been his safety.

Trunks cracked his eyelids, the room had a good amount of light filtering in through the curtains. Goten stood with his back to Trunks. He was holding his phone to his ear. A phone call appeared to be what had taken Goten from him. Trunks growled jealously which received him a flattered and playful over the shoulder smile from Goten. But almost immediately his demeanor changed to a much more serious one. Goten looked…slightly disturbed. It was the same look he had on his face the night before when he had been shouting at Goku.

"Yeah, we'll be there." Goten muttered before ending a phone call.

"Mmmm, who was that?" Trunks asked from the bed.

"No one." Goten said softly walking over and kissing Trunks on the head.

"Lies." Trunks muttered smiling at the kiss. "It had to be someone."

"Yeah but it doesn't matter." Goten said with a soft smile. "We have somewhere we need to go."

"See it must have been something cuz now you're making plans for me and controlling my life." Trunks protested.

Despite his complaining Trunks rose from the bed and began to take his sweats off. Goten couldn't help but stop to admire the other as he did this. Goten had always thought Trunks looked befitting of his title of Prince. He had always carried himself with that air. But Goten could tell now that it was who Trunks was down to the last fiber of his being. From the way Trunks moved to where his body curved in the exact right angles. Trunks looked like royalty. Trunks looked like he belonged in an ancient castle ruling over a crowd of people. Goten moved closer to the other and wrapped his arms around Trunks. Trunks smiled and hugged him back.

"I will protect you, from anything, I promise." Goten said softly. He kissed Trunks softly on the lips before completely pulling away.

That was his job as a saiyjin, to protect the royal family and in turn they kept the peace between their incredibly emotional people. Goten was happy that he lived in a time when it was ok to love the other as well. Roles didn't affect their personal lives, Goten was sure a world where he couldn't have Trunks would not be a world he wanted to live in. He had gone months without his best friend and did not want to live in that hell again.

Trunks pouted, sad that Goten had been so brief with their contact, but the look in Goten's eyes promised more affection later. Goten seemed to be in a hurry, so Trunks dressed quickly before following the other Saiyjin out on deck. They were back at the dock, Trunks was unsure how he didn't think Goten knew how to captain a boat. But boy he would love to see it. Trunks slipped his hand into Goten's as they hit land. Goten smiled at the other before softly pulling on his hand, leading him to a black car. Goten hopped in the driver seat so Trunks took passenger next to him. Goten buckled up and happily started the car. Wherever they were going Goten seemed pleased, much different than how he had sounded when he had ended his phone call.

Bulla dried her hands and walked out onto the floor. Lunch rush was beginning, while it was nothing crazy they were very close to the college campus which meant college students. It seemed to be mostly the upperclassmen though, Bulla assumed that was because it took a couple years for people to find the Café. Some of the students had told her about the café being a coveted attraction. Anyone who had been there talked highly of the food, but nobody ever gave away the location. Bulla didn't know if she believed their stories or if she should just assume they were stories. Bulla went up to the hostess to get her section for the day, her first table was of course the upperclassmen she had been thinking of moments before.

Six college students surrounded a round table in the middle of the room. Five males, and one female. Three of the guys had black hair and looked far too similar for Bulla to care to tell them apart. Another had Blonde hair and this was who the dark hair female seemed to be connected to. And then there was what she would refer to as their ring leader. A redhead who told too many stories and wasted too much of her time, she was sure that he was always flirting with her. But they always tipped well and were nothing but friendly and polite.

She received a warm round of hello's as she approached the table. Everyone seemed to be in a cheery mood after the holiday. They asked her about her's and she lied saying it was lame and uneventful. It hadn't been, it had been everything she had wanted. Bulla took their orders and left to get them their drinks.

"Hey how old are you?" The redhead asked.

"Twenty-one. I will be twenty-two around the middle of the year." Bulla responded as she set their drinks down.

"Why don't you go to school?" He asked leaning back. The rest of the table was having their own side conversations, but this one seemed intent on her.

"Uhm." Bulla said softly trying not to laugh. "I don't think college is in the cards for me."

"How are you gonna support your future family?" He asked.

"Oooh you're asking the hard questions now." Bulla joked. She couldn't bring herself to tell this man that she had probably reached his grade level when she was eight. Bulla already had four degree's simply from on the job credit for working with her mom. She had done so her entire life, her brother had too. Her mother had been sure to groom them to take over the company when she passed. "I am sure I will find a way."

Bulla smiled and left to retrieve their food. She passed out the food and provided excellent customer service. They all ate with smiles and left in good moods saying they would see her next time. Bulla cleared their table. There was a $20 bill on the table with the redhead's name and number on it. Bulla scoffed and stuck it in her apron, the rest of her shift she kept pulling it out and examining it. He probably thought she was some airhead highschool dropout who wasn't gonna make it far. That was the bad part of judging you were usually wrong.

Bulla Briefs. Everyone had their celebrity crush but Miko had not expected to find his being a waitress at his favorite café three months ago. And a good waitress too. It made him question why this girl with multiple degrees was working as a waitress. She could literally get a job anywhere. He had expected her to be cute, but in person she was way more attractive. The way she carried herself, and how soft her skin looked. Miko shook his head, he shouldn't be thinking about a stranger like this it wasn't appropriate. Still, he had left his number hopefully he had been enough to catch her attention. Miko shook her out of his head and caught up with his friends as they discussed video games and the latest game engineering software.

Trunks had fallen asleep on the way, but a bump in the road woke him. Trunks yawned and looked out the car window. Immediately anxiety gripped him. Capsule Corps, he didn't want to be here. Why were they here? Goten had to know that Trunks had a falling out with his parents, it should be obvious after what happened. Trunks reached over and grabbed Goten's leg.

"Ow, ow, ow , Trunks stop that hurts." Goten protested.

"Why are we here?" Trunks asked releasing his leg. He hadn't meant to grab him so roughly.

"I told you we had somewhere to be." Goten muttered as he turned into the garage.

"I don't want to be here." Trunks hissed.

"Yeah you do. Come on." Goten said getting out of the car. Trunks cursed but complied.

Goten held his hand and led him through the building. It only took a couple turns for Trunks to realize who they were here to see. Vegeta, his father, the last person he wanted to see right now. Trunks groaned and tried to pull away from Goten, but Goten tightened his grip and jerked Trunks forward. His father must have called Goten, but why? Did he want to berate Trunks more? He didn't know if he could handle it. Any harsh words and he might just break down and cry. They came to the door in front of Vegeta's study. Trunks took a deep breath as Goten opened the door and urged him forward. As soon as Trunks was in the room Goten closed the door putting a barrier between them. Trunks cursed again before turning to face his father.

"Father." Trunks said causing Vegeta to face him.

His father looked different. His eyes were cold, and it looked like he himself was cold as well. He didn't look like he had gotten any sleep. Vegeta approached him. The closer Vegeta came the more Trunks could see a look of utter disgust on his face. Trunks tensed prepared for a lashing about being gay and marrying a man. But it never came. Vegeta stood eyelevel with his son almost no room between them. Trunks took a breath prepared to defend himself from Vegeta's words. Instead, and much to Trunks' surprise, Vegeta grabbed his sons hands and slid down to his knees.

"I'm sorry." Vegeta said softly.

"W-what?" Trunks stammered. He had never seen his father act like this, what on earth was going on.

"I'm sorry, I should have protected you. I should have stopped him. I…I didn't know the truth. If I had known the truth…" Vegeta said, his hands were shaking his whole body was. "If I had known the extent of what he was doing to you I would have stopped it."

"Dad…" Trunks tensed. His father knew the truth, his father knew about what Goku had done to him. And he was begging for Trunks forgiveness.

"I'm sorry." Vegeta said. "I should have been a better father, to both of you but mostly you my son."

"Dad…it's ok…it's not your fault." Trunks said softly tugging on his father.

Vegeta rose from his position and pulled Trunks tightly to his chest. Trunks flushed, the last time his father had hugged him like this had also been the first time. Last time it followed with Vegeta blowing himself up, but hopefully today it would have a happier ending. Trunks returned the hug, wrapping his arms around his father and burying his face in his father's neck. Comfort, usually he looked to his mother for this, it was a completely different emotion when it was his father. It was a fierce and violent emotion, as most things with his father were, but it allowed Trunks to feel safe again. Time seemed to fade into the background as the two shaking men held each other each looking for their own type of comfort.

Finally they broke. Both feeling a little better. Vegeta offered his son a drink and they sat in a pair of red chairs. It may have been where Vegeta spent time alone but Bulma had decorated it so it looked like a typical study, but it seemed befitting of him none the less. Trunks took the drink, alcohol so early? Trunks checked his watch, it was 5pm obviously he had slept most of the day away which meant there was no way they came directly here.

"Do you want to…talk about it?" Vegeta asked softly.

"Maybe in a few drinks." Trunks joked as he threw his first one back.

"Hey Supreme Kai!" Goku shouted landing in front of Shin.

"Jeeze Goku you scared me." The small man responded. "Why are you here?"

"Well, I've made some pretty bad choices." Goku said softly. "I can't go back to earth, ever again."

"Ok but why are you HERE?" Shin asked not really caring what Goku had done. Goku was usually dramatic about things anyway there was no way it could really be that bad.

"Well, if the way to take down a God of Destruction is to kill the Kai's then I need to train you to be real strong. So that nothing happens to Lord Beerus, I don't want Freiza trying to take over when I die."

Shin sighed, there was obviously no arguing with the saiyjin and he had a good point. But he really didn't like fighting. But he had to, he had to get strong so he could protect the universe and help get them to a higher mortal level. But then that would just bring upon more powerful people who wished to be the strongest. Shin supposed if he was gonna learn it had to be from the current most powerful mortal.

The walk back to Trunks' apartment was a quiet one. Trunks had declared he wanted to walk and asked Goten to walk with him. Trunks had spent three hours alone with his father. Goten waited outside the door for him. He wasn't going to leave him behind. Trunks had returned smelling like whiskey. Was that what healthy father son relationships involved? They had held hands the whole way but Trunks had not spoken a word. It had been a peaceful silence though. The holidays had ended and now people were spending time at home, resting. It left the streets empty, no interruptions as they weaved their way through the streets.

When they got to Trunks apartment he unlocked the door and pulled Goten in behind him. If felt like it had been forever since New Year's even though it had only been two nights ago. Trunks dropped his hand and stood silently near the couch. Goten wrapped his arms around the other and pulled him close. Trunks relaxed back into him with a sigh of relief. They were together again, it felt like this was how they belonged. Time and fate just seemed to push them towards each other. This time it would be different though, this time there were no secrets and everything was getting real. Goten was going to be a father. Trunks was going to be just as responsible as was Marron, but they couldn't let a child grow up seeing the kind of life they had lived before.

"You sure you don't wanna move in together?" Trunks asked jokingly. Goten laughed.

"Just…be patient with me please?" Goten asked softly. "I'm not going anywhere, but I still need some space for when I need to be in my head."

Trunks nodded. He probably needed that too, a place where he could be alone and feel however he needed to feel.

"Will you stay just a little bit longer?" Trunks asked pleadingly.

"Wow that walk did not sober you up at all." Goten said with a soft chuckle.

Trunks smiled and shrugged. He wasn't sure if it was the alcohol or if it was Goten's presence, but he was definitely intoxicated. Trunks straightened his body and Goten let him go.

"Are you hungry?" Trunks asked walking towards the fridge. "We still have tons of food left from the party.

Goten walked up and grabbed him once again.

"Only for you." Goten muttered nuzzling into him. "Stop walking away from me dammit."

Trunks laughed and kissed Goten's cheek.

"Come on, what do you want to eat?" Trunks asked.

"Mmmm…everything, but mostly you." Goten mumbled.

"Perv." Trunks joked as he pulled some sandwiches out of the fridge.

"Yeah, but only when it comes to you." Goten said before taking a couple sandwiches and going to the couch to eat them.

Between the two of them they devoured over thirty sandwiches. They were saiyjins it was only normal. Goten checked his watch.

"Hey I have to go." Goten said before kissing Trunks on the forehead.

"Where are you going?" Trunks asked looking at the time. It was almost 10.

"I have to go talk to Marron." Goten said softly.

"This late?" Trunks protested.

"I told her we would talk today, but I've been with you all day. Unfortunately this is not something that can wait." Goten soothed him before giving him a soft kiss and heading out for the evening.

Pan sat anxiously next to her Mentor. She wondered often if he could read her mind and now she knew if he could he would be embarrassed of her. The day before she had a terribly vivid dream, one she wished would have been real. She had dreamed of having sex with him, but had woken to find it was only a dream. It had seemed so real, she had awoken thinking she was actually in a relationship with him. It had been a dream. Pan had been so convinced that it was real. It had seemed so real, but waking up alone in her workout clothes had proven that she had been alone ever since leaving the gym. She looked at Piccolo who shot her a look of his own.

"You are supposed to be meditating, relax or you can do it by yourself." Piccolo growled. Even outside of her dreams he was not fond of her joining the Galactic Patrol. But real Piccolo accepted it and even offered to help her. He wanted his pupil safe after all. She might be physically safe, but mentally she was crossing into a desperate zone. Perhaps she just desired sex enough to be satisfied with anyone. She shook the thought away, no she was just seeing him in a different light now that her father was becoming an active part of her life again. He had helped her recover from her transformation and even helped her master it over the course of a week. And yes there had been a kiss, but he didn't seem to enjoy it. Pan sighed.

"Ok!" Piccolo declared before taking off into the air. "I'm out."

"Fine!" Pan shouted after him. "My real dad is coming anyway."

Pan sighed, she didn't like the way things had changed. He had been very upset when she had originally told him that she planned on joining the galactic patrol. He had gotten angry, and told her it was a stupid idea. But after the dream she had last night she understood more why. It had been wrong of her to assume that it was for any reason other than concern. The idea of him having deeper feelings for her was wrong. He was older than her, and it wouldn't work out. Perhaps running away to join the galactic patrol would help her get away from those feelings as well as everything else she was worried about.

"Well your real dad is here." Gohan said with a laugh as he waved to Piccolo.

"Oh thank god." Pan grumbled standing up. "I was getting tired of the green one."

"Suuure." Gohan said with a smile. "Nevertheless, let's get training."

"OK!" Pan said gathering excitement within her.

"First, I wanna know how far you have gotten, I know you have been training." Gohan announced.

"Well, I went super saiyjin two and I can still achieve it, I just cannot seem to maintain it." Pan said.

"You are probably burning through too much ki." Gohan said. "So first we need to get you a lot more comfortable with your ki."

"How long does it take?" Pan asked.

"Well…" Gohan said, "It took me roughly ten months."

"Ten months!" Pan exclaimed. "When did you do this."

"Right before I fought cell." Gohan elaborated.

"Wait, but I thought you guys only had like seven days to train." Pan asked.

"Pan…have you ever heard of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?" Gohan asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Piccolo mentioned it."

"A day in our time is a year in there." Gohan stated. "We had a few days so we used one to train and that is where my father taught me to go super saiyjin two. I was the first to achieve that level."

"Wait I didn't know it was like that! We should go train in there!" Pan announced.

"No, because then you will leave sooner, and you have to be here for Goten's baby." Gohan shook his head.

Pan glowered at him but she couldn't really be upset. He was right she had to meet her only cousin before she went to fight the biggest baddies in the universe. She might never come back. She could tell that was what worried Piccolo. Was her father not worried? Or was he masking it? Her mother hadn't spoken to her about it she seemed to avoid any conversation regarding it.

"Ok." Pan said taking a deep breath. "How do we start."

"Well, first you need to meditate, focus all of your ki in your stomach." Gohan said.

"God damn it." She growled, she hated meditating.

Goten slipped in the booth across from Marron, she hadn't been hard to find in the small Café. They looked at eachother for a moment, both waiting for the other to speak. The silence was broken by a waitress bringing her lemonade and asking him what he would like Goten ordered coffee before the waitress left them to their silence.

"So…" Goten said softly prompting her to speak.

"You need to apologize." Marron growled. "I won't speak to you until you do."

"But you just spoke to me." Goten shot back before realizing that he was acting like a child. "Ok, I'm sorry. It was just, seeing you with him and knowing you were carrying my child…it just bothered me. I tried to ignore it but it wouldn't go away and it just kept getting worse."

"How did you even find out?" Marron asked.

"Trunks…" Goten said softly. Trunks had walked in on her taking a test shortly before the party and had not realized it was of any importance when he casually mentioned it to Goten.

"What are we gonna do?" Marron asked softer this time.

"We are gonna make it work." Goten said. "We are gonna give this kid a happy life we can do it without being together."

"I don't wanna live with my parents for ten months Goten." Marron shook her head. "I love them but they always get like uncomfortably into eachother before they go to their room."

"I have an extra bedroom." Goten offered. "You can take it over for as long as you need. I was gonna make it the nursery."

"Perfect, his bedroom can be the same room he was conceived in." Marron said distastefully.

"Hey I'm trying ok." Goten said looking away.

"I know." She said softly reaching over to grab one of his hands. "You should talk to Trunks about it before we rush into any plans though."

"He doesn't get a say in this." Goten disagreed.

"Yeah but it would be a bad idea to surprise him with it." Marron said, confirming that the ring on Goten's hand meant what she thought it meant.

The conversation seemed to have cleared the air a bit and they both ordered food when the waitress brought Goten's coffee. They had a late dinner together before Goten walked her back to her parents and then headed back to his apartment to sleep alone. He would have to clean it before she moved in.

Bulla woke early to a call from her mother, demanding that she come to capsule corps. Bulla grumbled about it saying it was her day off but still pulled herself out of bed to go to her mothers.

"You want me to do what now?" Bulla asked giving her mom a glare.

"I want you to go to the college and tell them that we are starting an internship program, and give these forms to the teachers." Bulma explained.

"But that's where Gohan works." Bulla mumbled.

"Shouldn't that be a bright side? Take him lunch and go eat with him." Bulma offered.

"What if I embarrass him? That's his job." Bulla asked.

"Embarrass him?" Her mother laughed. "Bulla, you look just like I did at your age if not better because of your Saiyjin Genes. If anything everyone will be jealous of him."

"Mom!" Bulla growled. "I am still in my pajamas."

"You look fine." Bulma argued.

"Now go. I really need the help."

"Why not hire like me."

"Your father said no, now go!"

"Fine." Bulla groaned before putting her black sweater on and heading outside. At least she was wearing Gohan's sweats so she just looked warm. But she had no makeup on and her hair was a mess. She really didn't want Gohan to see her like this, or even know she had stolen his clothes.

Still Bulla shoved all of the papers and paperwork her mom had given her into a satchel and headed to the college. She stopped on the way to pick up sushi for Gohan, maybe he would enjoy that for lunch. Getting the paperwork to the correct person was tedious, she got sent to three different people before one of them actually knew what she was talking about. She was given a list of teachers to drop them off to, Gohan was on the list she made note to do his last. She had managed to reach all of the classrooms before the period ended, allowing her to sneak into Gohan's room while he was the only one there.

"Well what have we here?" Gohan asked rising from his desk only to walk around and lean on it arms crossed looking her up and down.

"I dunno, I wanted to see the man at work?" Bulla suggested as she walked up to his desk.

"I was talking about my pants that you're wearing." Gohan chuckled.

"Well…shut up and take this." Bulla grumbled before shoving a stack of internship forms at him and a bento box of sushi.

"Well I appreciate the food but I hate paperwork." Gohan said taking both. "What are these?"

"They aren't for you." Bulla muttered. "They are for your students. Apparently Trunks leaving has left mom so short staffed and financially crippled that they are doing an internship program. You teach seniors, get it done."

"Fine, speaking of seniors they are about to start arriving so unless you want everyone to know you have daddy issues you might want to leave." Gohan winked at her.

"I swear I will be the person that kills you Son Gohan." Bulla growled before heading out of the room.

She collided with someone in the doorway, only to realize it was the redhead from the café. She apologized before fleeing, hoping he didn't recognize her out of her work uniform.

Miko was the first to arrive in class and had been very surprised when Bulla Briefs almost knocked him to the ground. Their accidental collision left his shoulder in a lot of pain though. Miko walked towards the front of the room where Mr. Son was standing laughing at the encounter, he had of course seen it all. Miko liked his professor a lot, admired him really. Miko only prayed he could age as well as his teacher; he was in his forties but could easily pass for late twenties. That is until he spoke, the way he spoke gave his age away in an instant.

"Your friend?" Miko joked, doubting that they knew each other.

"Bulla?" Gohan asked.

"Yeah." Miko responded.

"I mean I've known her since she was born if that counts." Gohan shrugged.

"I mean I guess. Why was she here?" Miko pried trying not to seem to obvious.

"Ah, this is something you might want." Gohan said grabbing a paper and handing it to him. "Capsule Corps is starting an internship program."

"Wait like for real?" Miko raised an eyebrow as he snatched the paper from his teacher's hand.

"Yeah, and down here at the bottom you can put me as a reference." Gohan said. "I am kinda like family."

"So how do you know the richest family in the world?" Miko asked as he grabbed a pen and began to fill in the sheet.

"Well, my dad and her mom are best friends, or were best friends." Gohan said. "And our brothers are getting married. I spent a lot of time at their house when I was in highschool."

"Wait like your brothers are marrying eachother?" Miko asked as the rest of the class flooded in merely seconds before they were tardy.

Gohan nodded before welcoming the class and announcing the internship opportunity. He didn't offer to refer anyone else however. He simply explained to them the form itself.

Gohan had given her a key so Bulla was waiting at his apartment when he returned from his training session with Pan that evening. Gohan had been happy to see her, and had arrived at the same time as the pizza guy. Bulla tossed him her wallet and he paid the man. However he couldn't help but notice a twenty dollar bill with a phone number written on it. Gohan tensed as he recognized the name and the handwriting. Instinctively Gohan took it. She didn't need another guys number on it. He then placed her wallet on the counter and brought the pizza to where she was sitting in the living room. There were four large pizza's but the two of them devoured them. Gohan was hungry after training and Bulla hadn't eaten at all that day, she had come back to Gohan's and slept until she ordered pizza.

"You are still in my sweats." Gohan pointed out after they migrated to the bedroom.

"Yeah." Bulla said with a smile. "You aren't getting them back."

"Ah is this what relationship feels like?" Gohan joked.

"Yeah. I'll be back." Bulla laughed before heading to the restroom.

Gohan enjoyed a few peaceful minutes, wondering slightly how long it was going to take her to notice the missing money. Much to his amusement it wasn't very long.

"Where is it?" Bulla asked crossing her arms as she walked in front of Gohan.

"What is it?" Gohan asked lazily from his bed.

"The twenty dollars." Bulla growled.

"Oh here." Gohan said pulling a twenty dollar bill out of his pocket and handing it to her.

"No." Bulla protested. "I want the other one back."

"No." Gohan shook his head.

"Excuse me?" Bulla's voice rose.

"What?" Gohan asked. "My girlfriend doesn't need to be walking around with other guys numbers."

"And why do you get to decide that?" Bulla asked.

"Because, I'm your boyfriend, and I'm keeping it." Gohan declared.

Part of him wanted to take it to that little redheaded shit and tell him to back off, but he decided threatening his students was probably not a good idea. Especially because he was particularly fond of Miko, he was a hard worker and tried hard to be in a good mood. He asked a lot of questions and helped a lot of the other students when they needed. Gohan was probably more upset about how much of a better fit for her the younger male would be. He was going places, so was Bulla, Gohan however had long past his prime.

"You're a jerk." Bulla protested crossing her arms and glaring at him.

"No." Gohan said standing up and pulling her into him. He looked down at her and she looked up to him. His black eyes were captivating, she could see anger brewing in them. "I'm possessive. And I will destroy anyone who tries to take what's mine. Bulla you're mine, if anyone else tries to get you I will not hesitate I am much stronger than any other guy you might attract."

Bulla felt like she should be afraid, but his words simply sent shivers through her. Was this really turning her on? They were close, closer than they had been in a while. She could clearly see every detail of Gohan's face but she couldn't help but drift her gaze to his lips. They looked soft, they were soft Bulla bit her own lip. Gohan noticed and descended upon her. His lips were soft but his kiss was rough. He nibbled on her bottom lip causing her to open her mouth slightly. He used the opportunity to possess her mouth. Bulla melted in his hands. She loved this feeling, he was acting strong and possessive and it made her feel safe.

Gohan adjusted where they were standing and pushed her onto the bed all without breaking the kiss. He ran his hands inside her shirt and up her sides. Her skin had always been incredibly soft, but today he was enjoying it to the fullest. He ran his hands further up cupping her breasts and softly squeezing them. Bulla moaned against his mouth. If this was what jealousy got her, she might have to make Gohan jealous more often. e d

(censored)

Gohan pulled out of her before laying down and pulling her into his chest. Gohan couldn't believe how much better it felt to be with her. He had missed this, and when trying to capture this feeling with Videl he had only gotten protests of him being too rough. Gohan was glad that it had come back to this. He was glad that he could call the saiyjin princess his. He smiled and kissed her softly before they fell asleep holding eachother.


	11. Chapter 11

"Are you sure that's what you wanna do?" Krillin asked his daughter.

"Yeah." Marron said with a nod. "I want Goten to be as involved as possible, and this was something he wanted."

"So then are you planning on staying in town?" Her mother asked cynically.

"Yeah." Marron said with a nod. "I seemed to have forgotten that while I may not be a Saiyjin these guys are and always have been my people. We've all been through a lot together and I know that if I need them I can trust them to be there. It's refreshing I haven't made any friends since them and they have always been my best friends."

"And you really don't think that Trunks is gonna be upset?" Krillin asked.

"I think Goten will be able to talk him into it." Marron smiled.

"No!" Trunks shouted. "I'm not okay with that!"

"You don't get to say no to this." Goten argued. "This is about my child, I will do anything possible to make sure that they are ok!"

"But that doesn't mean she has to live with you! She can stay with her parents." Trunks said venomously.

"Do you wanna live with your parents?" Goten asked placing his hands on his hips.

"No! I wanna live with you!" Trunks growled.

"Well I don't want to live with you right now." Goten stated. "I told you that already."

"It's not fair." Trunks protested.

"You are an adult stop acting like a spoiled brat!" Goten shouted.

"I don't wanna." Trunks crossed his arms.

"Well come talk to me when you do." Goten said.

"No." Trunks protested. "I'm sorry, I just don't like it."

"I know, and I knew you wouldn't. But I need you to understand that I have to do this." Goten expressed.

"I know, that's probably why I don't like it." Trunks muttered.

"But you understand so you are gonna suck it up?" Goten asked with a smile.

"Fuck you." Trunks muttered shoving him away.

"Please?" Goten teased. "I've been waiting patiently."

"If you don't stop fucking with me I am gonna fuck you up." Trunks elaborated.

"But you're the only person I want to fuck with." Goten said stepping closer to Trunks backing him towards the wall.

"You know what, I changed my mind, you can leave." Trunks said breathlessly.

"Ok." Goten said not moving. "But can I stay?"

"For how long were ya thinking?" Trunks asked, his heart racing.

"All night." Goten said pointedly.

"That would be nice." Trunks muttered.

The words were barely out of his mouth when Goten closed the distance between them and silenced him. Trunks moaned softly at the feeling of their bodies touching, they had embraced quite a bit since Christmas but this time there was a lot of intention behind it. Trunks didn't want to end the night without having Goten and it seemed Goten felt the same. No he could tell by the pressure against his pelvis that Goten did feel the same. Trunks kissed him back aggressively and ground his own erection against Goten's.

Goten didn't back down, he used his whole body to shove Trunks aggressively against the wall. Trunks took a sharp breath. Goten had never pursued him like this and he had never expected to enjoy it this much. He felt Goten roughly run his hands up Trunks body. Goten moaned and broke the kiss.

"You haven't been training." Goten muttered.

"I've been depressed." Trunks said softly.

"Training helps." Goten said softly before pulling Trunks shirt over his head.

"You're one to talk." Trunks pointed out as Goten took his shirt off.

"We were talking about you not me." Goten said before kissing the other again.

Trunks felt no need to reply, instead he simply kissed Goten back encouraging the other to continue what he was doing. They could train together, truthfully Trunks only liked training if it was with Goten. A lot of the reason was because in their adult life whenever they trained it always ended up with Trunks on top of Goten. If that were to happen now though? Trunks had been neglecting training for a lot longer than Goten. He was sure he couldn't win now. Goten was thin, but he was not soft. What he did have on his body was pure muscle at this point.

Goten pulled away from him rewarding him a protesting growl from the Prince. Goten silenced him by placing a hand over his mouth. Leaning down Goten bit Trunks roughly on the collarbone. Goten felt Trunks moan against his hand as he continued to nip his way down the others chest, each bite leaving a mark on Trunks pale skin. Goten was marking Trunks as his own, with each nip he swore he would never let anyone touch Trunks again. This man was his and he was going to keep it that way for as long as they were both alive. Goten let Trunks go and stepped back.

Trunks wasn't going to have it. There was no way he was going to let Goten get away with teasing him like that. Trunks quickly closed the gap Goten had just made between them. Without breaking stride he shoved Goten backwards on to the bed receiving a cocky smile from Goten. Trunks fumed, Goten had been baiting him and it had worked. He was going to get him back, but right now there was only one thing he wanted to do and that was Goten.

Trunks walked over to where Goten lay, reaching forward he undid Goten's pants before promptly removing every item of clothing on the lower half of the younger saiyjins body. It had been a long time since he had seen Goten like this, completely bare. He took a moment to take it in, Trunks had always been amazed by Goten's body. From the way his hips curved to the happy trail he had always meticulously maintained. Every scar on his body, every mark every color captivated Trunks. This was the body that he longed to see, the body that he longed to have hover over him. Goosebumps covered Trunks as he looked down upon his lover's body.

"Hey now this isn't fair." Goten teased sitting up.

"Don't you worry about that." Trunks muttered before sinking to his knees.

Trunks slid his body between Goten's legs and pulled him towards the edge of the bed. This was definitely what they both had been waiting for. Goten groaned giving into Trunks and all of his own desires as they made the most of the night they spent together.

The school year faded fast for Gohan, if he wasn't at work he was training with Pan or up late grading papers while Bulla slept beside him. When the last day approached he felt a wild sense of relief. Sure he still taught classes in the summer but not nearly as many so his schedule was a lot looser. He would get to spend more time with Bulla. But he also planned to fill in more time training with Pan.

"Yo Son Gohan." A voice shouted from the doorway.

Gohan smiled as he recognized the voice. Gohan still had the bill that this guy had given Bulla, so he had no real qualms with the boy. He had done a fantastic job on his final exam and Gohan was rather proud to have watched this guy grow over the course of four years.

"Hey, congratulations you are now an adult." Gohan joked. "What are you gonna do now?"

"Ah I am gonna relax for a few weeks until I start my internship at capsule corps." Miko responded with a smile.

"Oh?" Gohan asked slightly surprised.

"Yeah I guess that referral went along way." Miko said with a smile.

"Yeah I guess so." Gohan was trying to be cheerful but suddenly he was regretting telling the other about the internship.

"Gohan you literally told me to pick him." Bulma argued.

"I know." Gohan grumbled. "That was before he was hitting on Bulla."

"Oh my god you're jealous." Bulma chuckled.

"Have you seen your daughter?" Gohan asked glaring at Bulma. "I have every reason to be territorial when every person she encounters wants her too."

"Well I love you Gohan but he was literally the best applicant I had. Even if you hadn't said anything I still would have hired him. Besides it's not like Bulla is ever here anyway she's still avoiding Vegeta." Bulma pointed out.

"Yeah…" Gohan groaned before laying his head on the table.

"Stop your whining or I am going to reconsider my acceptance of your relationship with my daughter." Vegeta growled as he entered the room.

"Oh come on." Gohan protested standing straight. "You married Bulma for Christ sake you have to know how this feels."

"Yes." Vegeta said as he drew closer. "And I had to man the fuck up. Just like you should."

"I know." Gohan said shaking his head a little. "I just…don't understand this feeling. I never worried about Videl. But the idea of her attention straying to anyone else…."

"If you don't shut up I am going to punch you." Vegeta cut him off.

This reaction didn't surprise Gohan. In fact he had been expecting it and it was slightly reassuring. It wasn't that Vegeta didn't care it was that he did in fact understand. He supposed he had to deal with it with Bulma's ex-boyfriend being around for their whole relationship. He had also made it clear that he was perfectly okay with Gohan and Bulla, as long as he didn't have to hear about it that is.

"Maybe that's what I need." Gohan muttered.

"Then come over tomorrow." Vegeta offered.

"What?" Gohan asked.

"If you want the shit beat out of you I will happily oblige." Vegeta offered. "Maybe you will learn something."

"Yeah." Gohan said softly. "Maybe I will."

"Why are we here?" Bulla grumbled to as she stood in the living room of her parents' house.

"Well, because of the shit you two have pulled I now have interns, so if you wanna use my credit cards you guys better go teach them how to use my software." Bulma said crossing her arms.

"How many did you hire?" Trunks asked exasperated.

"Ten." Bulma responded smiling. "They are all in lab 3 go help them out."

"I don't want to." Bulla protested.

"But you are going to because your mother asked you to. And you should appreciate her good graces as I have none." Their father scowled at both of them, but more at Bulla.

"Ok, that's cool and all but why am I here?" Goten asked softly.

"Oh, yes you and I need to talk about Marron. I want you to make sure that she gets here at least once a week to see my doctor." Bulma announced.

"No offense Bulma but we can't afford your doctor." Goten said with a grateful smile.

"Yes but we can." Vegeta interrupted. "There is no reason for her to see a different doctor, she is bearing a Saiyjin we will take care of her. That is our duty."

There it was Bulla realized, this was what Gohan saw in her father. This was why to two Son boys had such respect for her father. He was there King, and he was acting like it. She took a deep breath. It was her turn to step up and do for her people, or in this case her parents.

"Ok." Bulla said softly. "Let's go Trunks."

Trunks nodded and followed his sister to the room that separated the gravity chamber from the rest of the house. Bulla hated people her age and she was almost positive she was about to walk into a room full of people her age. Maybe a little older.

"Why am I not surprised to see you?" The redhead asked shooting her a cocky smile.

"Because you are a stalker and you knew who I was the whole time." Bulla said suspiciously.

"I have been eating at that café for years." Miko defended.

"But you aren't gonna deny you knew who I was?" Bulla asked raising an eyebrow.

"You are far too famous to be conspicuous Ms. Briefs." He responded with a friendly grin. Bulla went to respond but his attention was taken away from her in an instant as he rose and waved towards the door. "Yo! Son Gohan!"

Bulla froze, of course he knew Gohan, she had ran into him as he entered for one of Gohan's classes, but she didn't understand why Gohan was here. Bulla turned to face the newcomer. She almost stopped breathing. She hadn't seen him in training gear a lot, in fact she had seen him naked more times than she had seen him in a Gi. But something about him, looking ready to battle made her heart skip a beat. Why was he here and why was he in training gear?

"Yo." Gohan greeted him warmly walking towards him, his gaze only pausing for a second on Bulla. "Looks like that referral went far."

"Did ya come to wish me luck on my first day?" Miko asked him with a grin.

"Nah." Gohan said. "I came to train with the head of the household."

"Train? Like martial arts?" Miko asked.

"Of course." Gohan laughed. "You think I won the heart of Videl Satan by with my looks?"

"Definitely not." Bulla muttered, of course he had to mention that with her right there.

"Nobody was talking to you." Gohan shot at her causing Bulla to grow red.

"So that head of the household, which would be your father?" Miko asked earning a nod for Bulla. "Is he strong? I've never been really into martial arts myself, but I keep hearing about how scary he is from people that work here."

"He doesn't scare me." Bulla shrugged.

"That's because he never beat you as a child." Gohan said sharply. Gohan however Vegeta had pummeled more than once as a child. "Speaking of that, where is he?"

"He was explaining to Goten why he absolutely must accept his divine offer of having Marron come to our doctor." Bulla explained.

"That sounds like a very graceful offer." Miko cut in.

"Yes…." Bulla muttered rolling her eyes. "Graceful is definitely the word I would use to describe my father."

"That's the spirit!" Gohan said overly excited.

"Bulla doesn't have any spirit." Trunks cut in as he approached. "Bulla doesn't even have a soul."

"Shut your mouth." Bulla shot back.

"I've already taught nine people how to use the software and you are still helping the same one so perhaps you need to shut your mouth." Trunks said sharply.

"I'm being thorough." Bulla growled at her brother.

"Any more thorough and that boy is gonna have to take his clothes off." Trunks shot back. This phrase caused Gohan to tense beside her.

"I think I'm gonna leave now." Gohan said with an uncomfortable laugh before he headed towards the door that led to the gravity chamber.

"Bulla stop flirting with the intern!" That was likely her mantra for the summer. It wasn't that she was interested in him, it was that she was interested in what Gohan did to her when he got jealous. That was why she only did it when he was around. Gohan had chosen to fill his days with training. He spent his morning and afternoon training with Pan and he spent his evenings training at Capsule Corps with her father. As such she had found herself occupying the Capsule Corps Lab when she got off work. More specifically occupying lab three the lab that had to be traversed through to get to the gravity chamber where Gohan and Vegeta spent most of their time. She theorized that it was built that way originally so that her father was forced to interact with her mother. Now it was simply a convenient way for her to get amazing sex and lots of attention. It was what she so desired recently. Gohan being busy all of the time left her rather lonely for him.

That was where she was now. Standing over the shoulder of the redheaded intern as he tried desperately not to get distracted by her. She had stopped at home on her way and shed her walking clothes in exchange for a blue tank top and a pair of jean shorts. Those had caught both of the guy's attention. But the look Gohan had shot her almost immediately made her confident she would never see these shorts again. She wasn't all bad however, she was constantly giving Miko advice on how to improve his codes and she was teaching him a lot about it too. However Goten and Trunks had also been at the compound a lot. So the shouting and accusing her of flirting often came from Trunks and Goten who knew more about the situation that they probably should. They however seemed to be playing devil's advocate in all this because they only called her out when Gohan was around. But then they only showed up when Gohan did.

"There." Bulla muttered as she leaned over him making him visibly nervous. "That should be about everything you need. And looks like your days' work is done."

"Early too." He responded with a kind smile.

"Uhm most people get off work at 5 it's like 7 bro, you're a little late." Bulla joked.

"I guess. But you don't leave until 11." Miko pointed out.

"I like to walk home with Trunks." Bulla lied. It was partially true. When Vegeta got done training for the evening everyone usually left to give him peace. But she stayed for Gohan who trained the whole time.

Gohan had made it fairly clear that he didn't want Miko to know about the extent of their relationship. He had said it was because he had been a student of his and he didn't want to change the way Miko viewed him. That was ok with Bulla as the younger man seemed to respect and lately be slightly intimidated by Gohan. It made it fun for Bulla.

"Ah." Miko responded. "Well I was gonna go grab some dinner, wanna come? Strictly platonic, I have seen your father and I don't wanna delve into that territory."

"I mean I totally want dinner, but I don't think you need to worry about my dad." Bulla said trying not to laugh, no he needed to worry about Gohan. But she didn't care to tell him that.

Trunks was never interested in training, and Kakarot was gone so Vegeta had thought he wouldn't have a partner to train with. However Son Gohan had come to him asking to learn more, so Vegeta took the opportunity to pass his knowledge on to the other. He knew Gohan could tap in to god ki, he had the same potential as Vegeta had the day Goku had gone Super Saiyjin God. He had been enveloped by the same power, he could do it. So Vegeta trained him. He had tried to take the same approach Whis had taken with him, slow, but he realized quickly that Gohan was in fact Kakarot's son and while he may be smart he had a short attention span. As such it simply came down to a daily routine of beating on each other for six hours. It seemed like Gohan had a lot of anger to work out, anger that he had not worked out since he was a teenager. This was really the only way Saiyjins could deal with their anger.

Today however Gohan seemed to be pulling his punches and dropping his guard. Vegeta felt like he was fighting against a weaker man. Gohan was not assaulting him as he usually did. No instead he seemed to be lingering back, lacking confidence and drive. Vegeta stopped and walked over to the wall of the chamber. Pressing a button he brought them back to earth's gravity. Gohan stared at Vegeta confused before understanding and dropping his guard.

"What is going on?" Vegeta asked harshly. "Where is your fighting spirit?"

"I didn't come here for a therapy session." Gohan muttered.

"This whole summer had been a therapy session, so tell me." Vegeta demanded.

"I'm a lot stronger than I was at the start of the summer." Gohan said softly. "But so is the rage. I feel like before I was numb to it because I blocked it out. But now that I have been using it to fuel me in training with Pan and training with you, I feel like it has more of a hold over me."

"Why?" Vegeta asked crossing his arms.

"I feel like one more thing might just break me and I will literally go ape on that scrawny little…." Gohan trailed off before taking a deep breath and staring desperately at his king.

"It's worse because she is a Saiyjin." Vegeta said quietly. "For one, she is almost ageless so she will have men of all ages surrounding her all of the time. For two…we don't develop connections with humans the same way we do with each other. Our connection has always seemed like a divine one. It's one that seems to reach across space, perhaps even time. There was a story book, I used to read it as a child. It was written before we lost ourselves to our rage. It was lore of our people, claiming that we all have a mate, it was predetermined, and we are all reincarnated. That is why sexuality is not a big deal to Saiyjin's. Because your mate could literally be anyone, and you may not even be born at the same time in this cycle of reincarnation. But Goten and Trunks….they found each other. If the stories are true than I have no doubt that they have been looking for each other for a long time."

"Like you…and my father?" Gohan asked softly.

"Wow…." Vegeta scoffed. But he didn't deny it. Instead he looked directly at Gohan. "How unlucky are we that we found each other in a life that it is not meant to be?"

Gohan didn't have an answer. Instead he just stared at the older Saiyjin. Vegeta fully believed the story he was telling Gohan. Perhaps it had not been a storybook at all, perhaps he had just fudged the truth a bit. But, that made Gohan wonder. Did Vegeta believe that Gohan and Bulla were mates as well? He had chosen to share this story to soothe Gohan. It had worked so maybe it was a story after all.

"So…what do I do?" Gohan asked softly.

"Get over it? She's just doing it to get under your skin anyway." Vegeta shrugged.

"You raised a brat." Gohan growled.

"No." Vegeta shook his head. "I raised two."

"Hey where ya been?" Trunks asked as soon as Bulla entered the compound. He seemed to be ignoring her redheaded companion.

"We went and got dinner since I was waiting." Bulla responded.

"You went on a date with the intern?" Trunks gasped, exaggerating of course.

"It was not a date." Bulla growled.

"Hmm…I wonder if Goten will think it was a date, maybe I should take a poll. Who all should I ask? There's mom, and dad, and Goten, myself of course, we could ask Pan, and Marron, and oh Gohan is…."

"You say a word and I will fucking murder you." Bulla growled shooting Trunks a death glare.

"Oh is that a promise?" Trunks asked with a smile. "Cuz if it is I would like to see you try."

"I don't think I wanna be a part of this." The forgotten Miko said with a nervous chuckle. "I'll see you guys later."

"Not if he kills you first." Goten said as he walked out the front door. His tone was almost dead and his eyes were locked on the red head.

"Goten!" Bulla shouted.

"Uh…" Miko stammered. "Who?"

Goten didn't respond, he just gave the human the creepiest smile he could muster. Trunks couldn't stop laughing, Bulla was shooting him a death glare and Miko simply looked disturbed. They stood in silence only for it to be broken by jovial laughter from inside, although it seemed like people were approaching. Bulla was expecting her father, as she had recognized his laugh, however she foolishly had not expected to see Gohan by his side. Gohan was smiling, it was reaching his eyes, but it seemed to leave his eyes as he saw who the fourth person that accompanied them was. But he still managed to keep it on his face.

"Anyway." Trunks interrupted. "Are you ready to go home Goten?"

"I mean I am ready to go to my home, but you should really go to yours." Goten said shooting a soft smile to his lover.

"Why?" Trunks asked slightly offended.

"Tomorrow is Bulla's birthday." Gohan responded with a smile, but the look in his eyes was deadly. "I doubt she wants to start her birthday alone."

This received what sounded like an approving laugh from Bulla's father. Bulla's face grew red with rage as she realized what Gohan was implying. He had caught on to her, likely with the help of their brothers and her parents, and his revenge was going to be ignoring her. Whatever she could handle it.

"Oh no, don't worry about it." Bulla beamed. "I have to work tomorrow. So I will be with all my friends at work."

"I guess in that case. C'mon baby, baby momma will be happy to see you." Goten joked grabbing Trunks by the arm and dragging him away.

"Well," Bulla grumbled. "Now I have to walk home alone."

"I could walk with you?" Miko piped up. This earned a seething laugh from her father. And a daring look from Gohan. He had already made his punishment obvious and his look dared her to push further. She grit her teeth, she was far too stubborn to lose against him.

"Thanks." Bulla said not looking at him. "Let's go. See you guys later."

"I take it back." Vegeta said as him and Gohan watched the other two walk away. "I raised one brat and one bitch."

"It's ok." Gohan said softly. "I doubt she was any easier in a different life."


	12. Chapter 12

"Happy Birthday." Bulla muttered to herself shortly after her alarm rang.

Bulla had played it off like she was excited for today, but in truth it was dreadful. She didn't want to work on her birthday, in fact all she wanted to do was sleep. Bulla reached for Gohan. His absence snapped her out of her daze. She had forgotten, they hadn't gone home together last night. Gohan had caught on to her reason for flirting with the intern, and now he was playing the game too. He had started by denying her his presence. She was curious if it would last all day or if he would come see her at some point. Pulling herself out of bed Bulla slunk to the shower, so not ready for the day.

Work Bulla was not looking forward to it today. She usually didn't mind it but this year she had really just wanted to spend it with Gohan. Bulla reluctantly walked to work, she could have flown and saved herself a lot of time, but then she would have ruined her hair.

Work passed quickly, it was very busy and there had actually been no problems at all that day. Everything had gone smoothly. She had also been graced with a short shift, her manager sent her home when they caught wind that it was her birthday. It was only noon. Bulla stepped outside of the café and took a deep breath of summer air. She loved the summer.

"Yo Bulla!" She heard someone shout.

The voice had come from across the road, in the direction of where Gohan lived. Bulla waited for traffic to break and then scanned the area. A smile came to her face as she saw her friend Pan. Pan was waving at her so Bulla waved back. Pan quickly made her way across the street to join Bulla.

"Happy birthday!" Pan said giving her a hug.

"Do all the famous people know eachother?" A voice asked from behind them.

"Oh!" Bulla said breaking the hug and turning to face Miko. "Hello. So you know who Pan is then?"

"Yes. She is the granddaughter of Mr. Satan." He nodded.

"Pan this is my friend Miko. Miko this is my best friend Son Pan." She introduced.

"Oh…." Miko said softly understanding coming to his face. "That makes sense. So then you are Gohans daughter?"

"Yes I am." Pan said with a smile. "And you are an intern at capsule corps."

"Heard a lot about me I take it?" He grinned.

"No…you are just in uniform and I'm the one who picked the uniforms up for Bulma." This was only partially a lie. She had picked the uniforms up but she had also heard plenty about this guy from her father. She had pointed out that Bulla probably only acted the way she did around this guy for Gohan's attention, Bulla had done similar things to Pan. But this only seemed to make Gohan more irritated.

"Oh…I guess that makes sense." He muttered.

"Why are you here?" Bulla asked raising an eyebrow.

The night before he had tried to make a move on her, she had been quick to shut him down and had made it clear that she had a boyfriend. She had honestly expected him to move on and probably ignore her for a while. So this was a nice surprise.

"Well, it's your birthday and you said you had to work so I figured I could bring you your birthday present. I was also gonna see if you wanted to grab lunch." He held a small box out to Bulla and she took it. It looked like jewelry, but she really did not want to open it in front of her boyfriend's daughter.

"Pan showed up before you, so now I'm obligated to spend time with her." Bulla said uncomfortably.

"We can all eat together…" Miko responded awkwardly.

"That sounds great!" Pan said excitedly looping an arm inside of each of theirs before pulling on them. "Let's go I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry." Bulla rolled her eyes but smiled.

"Tell me you're not Briefs." Pan said, knowing full well a saiyjin was always hungry.

"Where should we go?" Pan asked.

"A Buffet!" Bulla declared.

"I never eat enough to justify going to a buffet." Miko pointed out.

"That's ok." Pan grinned. "We will eat more than enough."

"If you say so." Miko muttered, having no idea what he was in for.

Pan watched the red head during lunch. He was definitely hitting on Bulla. His actions were blatant, from the way he looked at her to the subtle touches he kept laying on her shoulders and her arms.

"How are you still alive?" Pan asked the redhead softly as Bulla left them to refill her plate.

"Why do people keep saying things like that?" He asked her visibly disturbed.

"Because…I mean Bulla's boyfriend is terrifying." Pan pointed out. Did he even know Bulla was in a relationship?

"Yeah…" Miko muttered, Bulla had actually informed him the night before on their walk back to Bulla's. But he wasn't so convinced, even if she did have a boyfriend he was never around so it must not be a good relationship. "I will believe it when I see it."

"I don't think I ever wanna go in public with either of you again." Miko grumbled looking sick.

"That's what you get for trying to keep up with us." Pan laughed.

"I have never seen anyone eat that much food." Miko shook his head.

"You have obviously never had dinner with Gohan." Bulla muttered.

"Speaking of Gohan!" Pan said. "I'm sorry friend but this is where we leave you."

"Me?" Miko asked confused.

"Yes." Pan nodded. "I need to go see my dad, but no offense I don't want you there so I'm gonna take Bulla away now. Sorry."

"Okay…I guess." Miko nodded. He was slightly offended but he understood not wanting a stranger around for a private matter. So he just watched the two women head off in the distance still arm in arm laughing the whole time.

"This isn't the way to Gohan's." Bulla muttered as Pan pulled her away from her friend.

"I know. But let's go get you a nice new outfit before that." Pan said with a smile. "Also, I know you are trying to hide it but show me what he got you."

Bulla pulled out the small box and opened it to reveal some rather pricey earrings. She smiled diamonds were her least favorite gemstone, but the thought behind it was nice. Pan whistled low.

"I bet that set him back his entire life savings." Pan muttered.

"Looks like it." Bulla said softly.

"Wear those tonight." Pan said.

"What?"

"Where those tonight, now let's go get you a new outfit." Pan said dragging her down the road.

"Are you not getting ready?" Bulla asked Pan as Bulla put the earrings on, completing her outfit.

"Uh I'm not going out to dinner with my dad." Pan said. "That sounds incestuous."

"Wait…I'm going out to dinner with your dad?" Bulla asked, her heart racing. Her and Gohan had not gone out in a long time, was that what today was about? Had he sent Pan to ensure it was special.

"Don't tell him I told you it's supposed to be a surprise." Pan begged.

"Yeah ok." Bulla rolled her eyes.

"Happy Birthday." Gohan said softly as she approached.

"Thank you." Bulla said softly smiling at him. She couldn't help but admire his attire.

Gohan was wearing a pair of black slacks and a button up black shirt that fit his body snugly. Honestly he looked like he was about to tear the shirt at any moment, not that Bulla would have minded, but he also looked extremely comfortable. It was obvious Pan had known what he was going to be wearing because the black cocktail dress she had picked for Bulla matched his outfit perfectly.

"I was told this was supposed to be a surprise." Bulla muttered.

"You and I both know Pan can't keep a secret." Gohan grinned.

"Shall we eat?" Bulla asked earning her a laugh and a nod from Gohan.

They spent a lot of time together that night. They ate and they laughed and talked about the past few months. Things they had not had time to share from their day to day lives. It was like they hadn't seen each other in months, which in part was true. The extravagant evening ended far too soon and they were outside Gohan's house.

"Don't frown." Gohan said softly. "Your birthday has just begun."

Bulla stood alone in his livingroom, how long had it been since she had just stood there? Usually they were in a hurry to get each other into bed, but tonight things were slow. Things felt like they had all those months before. The first month, when they had fallen in love.

"Where did you get these?" Gohan asked softly as he approached her and began toying with her extravagant diamond earrings. She could have gotten them anywhere but an eerie feeling in his stomach compelled him to ask.

"Miko got them for me as a birthday gift." Bulla responded.

"Take them off." Gohan said tensely.

"What? No." Bulla shook her head and stepped away from him. "I like them."

"You don't need to be wearing jewelry given to you by another man." Gohan growled. He didn't like getting this territorial, but his vision was already getting red with jealousy.

"Why should it matter?" Bulla grumbled as she removed them. "He's just my friend."

"No." Gohan hissed as he snatched the earrings out of her hands. "Nobody buys something like this for someone they think is a friend."

"You're overreacting." Bulla protested.

"You seem to keep forgetting that you are mine." Gohan said crushing the jewelry in his fist. "Do I need to remind you?"

"Gohan." She protested softly but he silenced her with his lips.

He hadn't kissed her like this, not in a long time. They hadn't had the time. A few hours an evening with each other when both of them just wanted to work out the stress from the day is what they had been dealing with recently. But tonight he kissed her slow and thoroughly. Bulla couldn't remember their first kiss, but she would always remember this one. She would remember the feeling of his heart beating in his chest as he held her painfully close. The kiss was desperate, but it was also patient relaxed and altogether captivating. Bulla could feel every point their bodies met, she felt like she was on fire but she just wanted to be consumed by that fire. That fire was Gohan. She noticed now how much stronger he had gotten from training. His arms, his chest, all of him just seemed larger, they seemed to shield her from anything that wasn't him.

She had been enjoying the contact they had been engaging in the past few months, the jealous heavy borderline violent contact, but she liked this better. Suddenly Bulla realized that she was no longer touching the floor. He had his arms around her and was holding her so close that he had lifted her off the ground. Bulla closed her eyes and kissed him back. This caused his heart to beat faster, she would be lying if she said her's did not speed as well. But all to quickly Gohan released her.

"Your bath is ready." He said softly to her. "Come on."

Gohan dragged her to the bathroom which was lit with half a dozen pink candles. Gohan had been correct, the bath was full and the soft scent of lavender permeated the air. Gohan moved behind her and slowly undid the zipper of her dress causing it to fall into a pool at her ankles. She hadn't worn a bra as the dress was strapless, so she stood now clad only in a lacy piece of underwear. This she had picked out herself and the sharp intake of breath Gohan took made Bulla sure it had gotten the impact she had hoped for.

Bulla felt Gohan's hands run down her body, leaving the same fire as before in his wake. The fire was doused by soft kisses as he followed his hands with his lips. She shivered at the contact, her body going crazy with desire.

"Calm down princess." He said softly as he felt her body shake. "We have all night for me to take care of you."

"Here I was under the impression that you had some sort of punishment for me." Bulla muttered.

"Because you intentionally make me jealous?" Gohan asked softly standing back up.

Bulla nodded.

"That can wait until another day." Gohan muttered.

He led her to the bath and proceeded to gently and lavishly bathe her. But this was only the start as he spent the rest of the night fulfilling all of her needs and desires.

"Come over." Goten shouted. "Marron has big news."

"Okay." Bulla muttered pulling herself out of bed.

Bulla was glad the three of them were getting along but currently all Trunks and Goten talked about was Marron, just like when they were teenagers. They waited patiently for Bulla to dress before dragging her out of the house. Usually they would walk but apparently this was far too important so they flew instead. Landing at Goten's apartment they quickly headed inside to see Marron.

"Wait what?" Bulla asked shocked. "You are still marrying the guy?"

"Yeah." Marron smiled softly. "Him and Goten are on speaking terms…can't say the same about Trunks but…at least he likes me again. It's been so long since the three of us have been friends like this. It's kind of like old times."

"Ok but you weren't very happy with him last time we talked." Bulla pointed out.

"He bought us a house, and he made a nursery and he's really excited about the baby." Marron said softly. "That was what I was worried about. Him either not wanting the baby, or not wanting to work things out so that everyone could be involved. He loved his job and he loves that town…but he gave it all up for me. So I do…I do think I wanna marry him. Before this baby comes."

"Well…." Bulla muttered. "I guess we better get started planning.

"Congratulations." Gohan said as he approached the bride. He really meant it, but tonight he really wasn't feeling it.

It had been an exciting day for all. A beautiful summer wedding, with a beautiful bride and a very happy groom. Now the festivities were fading, the night was wrapping up. And Gohan had spent the whole time watching his woman flirt with another man. It had taken a toll on his good mood.

"Oh Gohan, why do you sound so full of dismay?" She asked softly shooting him a vibrant smile. "Today is a happy day."

"I know." Gohan said softly. She was right today was a day to celebrate an eternal union. She was getting married which was a huge deal. And they had all worked out a plan for the soon to arrive baby in order to keep everyone happy. "I'm just afraid I might make a scene at your wedding."

"Oh?" Marron asked before following his gaze. She still smiled but her smile changed from friendly to encouraging. She had grown up around these people, she had the same temperament even if she was lacking the genes. So instead of protesting or trying to talk him out of it she grinned and said "Go for it."

Gohan smiled rather wickedly. He wasn't going to cause a scene but he was definitely going to get his point across. The young blue haired lady was his and he was gonna make sure nobody questioned that after tonight. It was going to take a lot of alcohol for Gohan to act out at a social gathering, alcohol and encouragement. A quick glance to the side of the room revealed where he planned to find his encouragement. Gohan made his way towards Goten, Pan, and Trunks.

The night drew on and the dinner finished, tables were moved and a makeshift dance floor was created. People paired off two by two to enjoy the rest of the evening, the slow music and the ample champagne. The wedding had been Bulma's wedding gift to Marron so it was far beyond extravagant, but yet everything she had wanted. Surprisingly Bulma had been able to plan it in only a few short weeks, Bulla smiled as she watched the very pregnant bride head to the floor with her groom. Bulla scanned the crowd to find Gohan, but he was MIA. A tap on her shoulder drew her attention away from the endeavor.

"Hey, wanna dance?" Miko asked her. He had been her plus one since Gohan had been ignoring her for training recently. It kind of hurt because he had ignored her the whole evening too.

They had spent a lot of time together and luckily for Bulla the other had not tried to push any boundaries after the uncomfortable shut down the day before her birthday. He had made it obvious he was interested, and even cynically pointed out quite frequently that he would believe she had a boyfriend when he met said boyfriend, but he never made her feel uncomfortable. Bulla nodded and allowed him to pull her out on to the dance floor as a slow song started. The songs were all similar and seemed to fade into one another, she had failed to realize multiple songs had passed until Goten walked over and uncouthly cut in.

"That's enough that's like five songs, it's my turn to dance with the princess." Goten declared as he roughly grabbed Miko and pulled him away from Bulla.

Bulla laughed and Miko rolled his eyes but nodded to her and headed back to where they had been seated. Bulla took Goten's hands and allowed him to lead her onto the floor. He kept tripping over himself making for a cheery and eventful dance. This marked the end of a set of slow songs. The bride and groom announced their departure and the tone of the party changed. Upbeat rhythmic music, flashing lights and an open reservoir of alcohol were presented to those who chose to stay for the after party. Bulla of course was not going to say no and she could tell by looking at Goten that he had already been partaking. Bulla regrouped with Miko who was now accompanied by Pan. The trio agreed that tons of liquor sounded like a great idea.

"I will just skip training tomorrow." Pan muttered as she downed her third glass of wine. "Isn't there anything stronger this shit is weak?"

"Here." At that moment Gohan appeared holding a bottle of rum. "This is what I have been drinking all night."

"So is that where you have been all night?" Pan asked taking the bottle from his hand and passing it between the other two.

"I didn't know you drank." Miko said after taking a swig.

"There is a lot you don't know." Gohan said, the look he gave the boy was not at all friendly. He turned his attention back to Pan. "So what am I supposed to do while you sleep off a hangover tomorrow?"

"I dunno what do you usually do with your free time father?" Pan asked taking another drink.

"What did you used to do in your free time?" He shot back with a grin.

"I think you've had too much to drink." Bulla muttered.

"Or maybe you haven't had enough little Briefs." Gohan said grinning at her.

"Provide me with more Son Gohan!" She declared.

"I'll provide you with something all right." Gohan muttered as he went to gather another bottle for her. "The Princess requires beverage knaves!" Gohan shouted as he approached the bar where Goten and Trunks were keeping post.

"Oh shit!" Goten jumped up and grabbed a bottle. "We mustn't let the princess go thirsty."

The three of them quickly regrouped with the other three each of them carrying two bottles.

"We should go to the fort." Trunks said getting everyone but Miko visibly hyped.

Their early teenage years had been filled with antics involving a small house on the capsule corps property. First it had been a place Gohan had used to study as a child but as Goten and Trunks grew it became the place they would go and train often with Marron, when they had grown out of it then it had become where Bulla and Pan would hide from their parents.

'Bulla you are my fort buddy!" Pan declared grabbing her hand and taking off at full speed.

A race ensued, it was ruminating of younger years, before life had gotten complicated with love and sex. It was almost as if they were kids again, running to reach the fort before anyone else, who would claim the throne today. Bulla pushed forward the muscles in her legs screaming as she did so, but she was falling behind. As always she was falling behind the rest of them. The older, better trained, more advanced Saiyjins. She wasn't last though. Pan was actually pulling her towards the front of the group, looking back over her shoulder she could see that Gohan had fallen behind, probably too keep the human from losing his way.

"You made it." Pan said as they both stood in the doorway out of breath. "You are the queen."

"I knew I was the superior sibling." She joked as Goten and Trunks arrived.

"You had help." Trunks protested.

"You should train more." Pan shot back. "Also I don't think this building can fit six grown adults."

"It seemed so much bigger when we were kids." Bulla muttered. They had a lot of memories in this building.

"That's ok, campfire time." Goten said grabbing Trunks hand and leading him to go gather firewood.

A few moments later Gohan and Miko strolled up. Gohan seemed uncomfortable but the human didn't seem to notice. Pan greeted them both and Gohan wondered how this boy had managed to integrate himself into their lives so smoothly over the past few months. He supposed it was just something about saiyjins that attracted weaker beings towards them. He felt anger well inside him as Miko walked over and sat next to Bulla. But Gohan was drunk enough to be bold. He had prepared himself for it.

"My queen." He said with a grin as he held up a bottle. "I have retrieved the beverage that you requested."

"Yes!" Bulla cheered. "Bring it here."

"No." Gohan grinned baiting her. "Come get it."

Bulla rolled her eyes and walked over to him she reached to take it from him but he lifted it out of her range.

"Gohan." She whined.

"We are all really lucky that your father is a dwarf." Gohan chuckled.

"Except for me." Goten protested as him and Trunks reappeared each carrying far more firewood than any normal human could. "Sure Bulla and Trunks are short but I'm shorter."

"Oh honey it's just all that untapped potential." Pan grinned.

"I'd like to tap that potential." Trunks said.

Goten dropped his firewood and slammed his fist into Trunks shoulder causing him to stagger backwards.

"Gohan!" Bulla whined grabbing his shirt in an attempt to retrieve the bottle.

"C'mon the faithful servant has to get some reward." Gohan grinned.

"I'll give ya five bucks." Bulla offered stepping away.

"Hmm…something else maybe?" Gohan chuckled.

"How bout I just take that bottle from ya." Bulla placed her hands on her hips.

"Good luck." Gohan grinned. "I've been training for six months straight with Pan and three with your father. I am so much faster than you little Briefs."

"Stop calling me that!" Bulla growled. "I'm not little."

"You kinda are." Miko inputted.

"Hey you are supposed to be on my side!" Bulla protested.

"In every history book I have ever read the people usually rise up against their government, so it really wouldn't be accurate if I was." Miko chuckled.

"Congratulations!" Gohan cheered tossing Miko one of the bottles he was holding. "You have proven your loyalty drink away!"

"Gohan!" Bulla hissed.

"What?" Gohan smiled down at her.

"Gimmie." She begged.

"Are we still talking about alcohol?" Gohan smiled.

"Well now I feel like I need an adult." Pan muttered before quickly swiping the bottle from her father's hand.

"Awe Panny I am an adult." Gohan laughed as Pan handed the bottle to the grateful Bulla.

"Yeah I think he is much more of an adult than all of us." Miko laughed.

For some reason the interaction between Bulla and Gohan had made him slightly uncomfortable. He knew they had known each other her whole life, but he just couldn't quite read them. He hadn't seen them together very much at all over the past few months of working at capsule corps but they seemed like they spent a lot of time together.

"That's right." Bulla nodded taking a swig from her newly acquired bottle. "You're like old."

"I'll show you old." Gohan growled.

"Thanks but I would rather not see master roshi." Bulla shook her head. Everyone roared with laughter.

They settled down long enough for Trunks to get a fire started. It was a surprisingly tedious task, usually he would just use an energy blast to light the wood, but he couldn't do that with this human present. But soon the fire was roaring and the group of adults surrounded it. Pan, Bulla and Miko sat on one of the benches, Goten and Trunks sat in the grass and Gohan sat on the ground between Pan and Bulla.

"Hey Miko?" Pan asked leaning around Bulla to look at him. "Wanna hear the story of when my grandpa saved the world?"

"I mean everyone has heard that story, it is in our grade school history." Miko chuckled.

"What?" Pan asked confused. "OH! That grandpa! Yeah that didn't happen."

"What do you mean?" Miko asked with a frown.

"Yeah no, that one was my dad. I was actually talking about my other grandpa though." Pan said.

"Wait you want me to believe that your dad took down Cell?" Miko crossed his arms and looked at the drunk, middle aged teacher that sat next to Pan.

"Yeah but I wanted to tell you a different story, but now you've ruined it so never mind." Pan shook her head.

"No I wanna hear about Gohan killing Cell." Miko protested.

"I don't wanna hear about Gohan killing Cell." Gohan shook his head. He had lived with those memories all of his life, and they were some of his least favorites.

"Yeah and I don't wanna talk about Goku…so let's hear about Gohan killing Cell." Trunks announced.

"Yeah I love that story!" Bulla agreed.

"Can we maybe talk about Gohan being a superhero instead?" Goten suggested. This earned him a grateful smile from his brother.

"Wait a superhero?" Miko gasped. "I don't think I believe any of this."

"Well it's all true!" Pan announced.

"Yeah! Gohan is the coolest of us all." Goten smiled.

"You just say that cuz he's your brother." Bulla rolled her eyes.

"You say that like you don't agree?" Miko asked.

"I didn't say that." Bulla blushed, of course she thought Gohan was the coolest of them all, but if she said that then she would look significantly less cool.

So as the group of five drank around the campfire Pan wove the tales of Gohan's life, leaving out the space travel and of course the being an alien. The way she told the stories had even Gohan sitting on the edge of his seat waiting for the climax, and he had lived this. As he listened to his daughter speak he leaned his head unconsciously into Bulla's lap and she began to run her fingers through his hair. The tales of a man from the future who was trained by Gohan. The tales of the battle against Cell, being a superhero, and fighting against Buu. She went as far as to iterate the tale of the tournament of power which had happened on the day of Bulla's birth. At that time Gohan had no idea how much the younger girl would impact his life.

"And then he got a job as a teacher and The Great Saiyaman was never heard from again." Pan concluded.

"Ok I don't believe any of that." Miko protested.

"Believe it or not, you can never repeat any of it." Pan said in a low voice. "If you do Bulla's dad will kill you."

"Maybe I will believe it when I see it." Miko laughed, but nobody else did. The thought crossed his mind that perhaps they had not been joking.

"Little Briefs?" Gohan asked from her lap.

"Hmm?" Bulla asked, she had gotten lost in contentment while she was stroking his hair.

"Have you been training?" He asked opening one eye to look up at her.

"When do I have time?" Bulla asked.

"When you're flirting with the intern?" Goten offered which got him a glare from Bulla and a laugh from everyone else.

"You wake up like two hours before me every day." Gohan muttered. "You could be training."

"God now you sound like my dad." Bulla grumbled shoving his head out of her lap.

"Who knew you both had daddy issues." Goten joked jabbing Trunks with his elbow.

"Me." Pan responded seriously.

"Well." Gohan said standing up and taking another drink. "Who wants to fight?"

"Uh no thanks." Goten laughed. "You've been training with Vegeta for months nobody is stupid enough for that."

"I am." Pan said with a smile.

"But here? Really? There are still a bunch of people at the wedding." Trunks protested.

"We are like half a mile away from the wedding." Miko said confused.

"I guess it's just gonna have to be a sparring match then." Gohan sighed reluctantly.

"If you destroy my fort I will have my father kill you all." Bulla threatened.

"No promises." Gohan said winking at her before he headed out into the field.

"So this is your big idea huh? An unbridled show of masculinity?" Pan scoffed as she caught up with him.

"You're the one who told the Cell story." Gohan pointed out.

"You're the one who can't admit to your student that you are a perv." Pan joked.

"Thems fightin words." Gohan joked.

"We were gonna fight any way old man." Pan joked shoving him. They laughed and headed to separate parts of the field taking up their battle stances. They had fought a lot over the last few months, but usually Pan was a Super Saiyjin 2. Unfortunately she would not be able to showcase that power today but she planned on showing everyone how she had improved.


	13. Chapter 13

Pan took a deep breath as she faced her father. Hold back. She told herself. She must maintain composure, she must not lose control. She had fought with her father frequently, and he was still miles and miles ahead of her. She felt like the gap grew larger each day. Usually she lost control of herself and ended up destroying things. Today would be the test, how well could she actually control herself. Falling into their stances sobered both of the Saiyjins up significantly. If she could maintain composure he would give her his permission to go, of that she was sure.

For him this was important. He had a point to prove, more to himself than anyone else. But he had overheard people warning Miko that Bulla's boyfriend was scary, after tonight there would never be another doubt that he was in fact terrifying.

This was a show, Bulla was sure of it. Gohan had been hanging near her ever since they had arrived here. She was sure he was up to something, and everyone was in on it. They seemed to have the intoxicated human enjoying himself though.

"I have never really been interested in martial arts." Miko interrupted her leaning too close. "But I'm hyped."

"It's cuz you're drunk." Bulla glowered shoving him away.

"Ah. You're right." He said readjusting himself, but staying close to her.

"Now hush." Bulla said softly. "I wanna watch this."

"This stuff really is your thing huh?" Miko asked, fairly confused that Bulla was interested in martial arts.

"I just wanna see how powerful that bastard has gotten." Bulla growled, he better be really strong for having ignored her for so long. "It…it's kinda in my genes, ah the good old genes."

"What do you mean?"

"My dad fights, my brother fights, all of my ancestors have fought. That's what they are good at, luckily we gained some intelligence when my mother married into our family, but it's what we've done for eons. It's what we will always do."

"That's kinda brutal." Miko groaned.

"Animalistic, that's the word I would use." Trunks cut in as he sat between them. "Now shut up and watch, those are the rules."

Trunks seemed to be intimidating enough to make Miko stop talking and they all turned their attention to the duo in front of them. This was truly what being a Saiyjin meant.

Their movements were quick, hard for even Trunks to follow let alone the human.

"Fuck…." Trunks murmured as the first blow connected. This was definitely going to get out of hand.

Pan landed the first blow, directly in her father's stomach, but he just laughed egging her on. She was still nothing compared to him even in their base forms. Pan hopped back and took a deep breath, she might not be as strong as him but as long as she remained level headed she could sure give him a run for his money.

"Pay attention idiot." Gohan snarled as he landed a quick blow to her chin, sending her flying back.

Pan regained herself quickly, landing on her feet. The blow had hurt but she knew he was holding back. She was determined to at least make him work up a sweat. He advanced again but this time Pan was focused enough to dodge him. But Gohan was faster, and had been fighting much longer. He was quick to retaliate. He brought her down with a kick to the back of her head. But just like him she was quick bounding back to her feet in seconds. Pan took a deep breath sizing her father up, he had been giving her ample time to attack, and his blows were obviously only punishment for not taking her opportunities.

So Pan struck back, she was tired of being a punching bag. Her fist collided with his forearm as he guarded her attack so she threw another, and another. He blocked her fists but she was pushing him back. Slowly but surely she was gaining ground. She was getting cocky, putting more power behind her punches, a reckless amount of power. Gohan grinned, she was opening her defenses wider and wider with each blow she threw.

Her fist didn't connect this time. Gohan dodged and landed a blow of his own in her stomach. Unfortunately her response to being it was not nearly as graceful as Gohans. She coughed up a small stain of blood before she was ready to continue. She knew that she was lucky, if she was facing an enemy of Gohan's power then she would surely be dead by now. But this wasn't a serious match. No this was her way to prove herself to her father, and subsequently his way to prove his dominance over everyone in the group, but mostly Bulla and that human.

Slipping back into her fighting stance, Pan made a speedy recovery. She shot towards her father and he prepared to defend. Their fists connected in an instant, each blow being either blocked or guarded. Pan didn't let up on her assault, this time keeping her timing sure. Her performance was much different than it had been the last time any of them had seen her fight. She was not leaving Gohan a chance to respond or retaliate. And unexpected kick sent Gohan flying backwards. The other Saiyjin's tensed as the fight became more aggressive.

"They're getting loud." Trunks muttered to Bulla.

"Well stop them then." Bulla growled, aware that her brother was right.

"No you stop them." He said raising his voice, causing the other two to shift their attention to the siblings.

"Why do I have to do it?" Bulla shot back.

"Cuz you caused this." Trunks growled.

"This wasn't me." Bulla protested.

"Really? Cuz all summer you have been purposely fucking with Gohan, and that's really not very nice." Goten shot at her, obviously very upset at her.

"I…." Bulla stammered.

"You should really go out there and stop your boyfriend and his daughter before Bulma notices. You know how she is about parties." Goten growled.

The air around the human shifted, Goten looked over at him with a small smile. It was out, he had heard, and now Bulla's game was over. They had been waiting for a chance to do this, and tonight Gohan had given them the permission to do so. He was done being concerned about Bulla being embarrassed and they were more than happy to help. The human made no moves but he looked thoroughly shocked for a moment. Then it changed to thoughtful.

Their attention snapped back to the pair still fighting. Gohan had gained ground while they were distracted, they watched as he landed blow after blow, some Pan was able to block, but most connected sending her staggering backwards and breaking down her defense. Or at least what little was left of it. Pan attempted to retreat, but Gohan was faster and one well-placed kick to the gut sent her flying into a nearby tree, taking it to the ground with her.

"Stop them." The human muttered as he watched Pan struggle to get up.

Bulla was taken aback, but she complied it was over.

"That's enough." Bulla shouted running over to Pan.

Gohan held out a hand to help her up and she gladly took it.

"Make sure you don't leave your guard open like that when you are off fighting space villains." Gohan said cheerfully.

"Does that mean I can go?" Pan asked excitedly.

"Are you sure she's ready?" Bulla asked shocked and afraid.

"Yeah." Gohan nodded to Bulla. "She's been ready, I haven't."

"She can't leave until the baby is born!" Trunks protested as the other three approached.

"Screw you Trunks!" Pan shouted. "I'm going to space."

"Well…it's still gonna take Bulma time to build your ship." Goten pointed out.

"Well intern." Pan said walking over to Miko. "I hope you don't plan on getting any sleep for the next month."

"I have no idea what's going on." Miko responded looking concerned, he was still hung up on the revelation that Bulla's boyfriend that everyone had been warning him about was Gohan. He was sure they had been trying to tell him, but he just hadn't gotten the hint.

"Eh I'll fill you in later." Pan said with a wave. "Now it's time to eat!"

"How can you be hungry when you just got the shit beat out of you?" He asked shocked.

"I'm always hungry. C'mon lets go!" Pan declared grabbing him by the shirt and dragging him with her. He didn't seem to protest much. He was actually rather glad that pan had pulled him out of that uncomfortable situation.

"Goten!" Bulla shouted scathingly as soon as the human was out of earshot.

"Hey I got permission to out you from all of your family members and your boyfriend." Goten said waving at her with a cocky grin.

"Smug bastard." Bulla growled at him.

"That's my brother you're talking to." Gohan said with a sigh. "Please be a little nicer."

"But he's not nice!" Bulla protested.

"The end doesn't justify the means." Gohan shrugged.

"Smartass." Bulla shot back with a glare.

"Well I am very smart." Gohan said with a grin. "And did you mention something about my ass?"

Trunks and Goten laughed, both of them still very giddy from embarrassing her. Bulla glared at the three of them. They were all very much enjoying a joke at her expense. But all of that topped with Gohan's attitude most of the evening, and the condescending smile he wore just pissed her off.

"Well, did you have fun?" Bulla asked sarcastically.

"Yeah." Gohan grinned stupidly, obviously to irritate her. "You?"

"No!" Bulla shouted at him, louder than Goten or Trunks expected. "You all made a fool of me!"

"You mean like you've been doing to me all summer?" Gohan asked softly crossing his arms.

"I…." Bulla stammered.

"That's what I thought." Gohan scoffed. "I'm leaving. Call me when you calm down little Briefs."

Bulla watched Gohan retreat as she listened to the chorus of laughs from their brothers. They obviously found nothing but amusement in the situation. Bulla turned and scowled at the other two saiyjins.

"What the fuck Trunks." She growled placing her hands on her hips.

"Hey why are you mad at me? I didn't do anything wrong." Trunks replied regaining composure and staring at her.

"You shouldn't be standing here laughing at me." Bulla growled.

"Play stupid games, win stupid prizes." Trunks responded with a shrug.

"To be fair, it was a really stupid game." Goten pointed out.

"I don't need your criticism too." Bulla shot back at Goten.

"Stop fucking with my brothers feelings and you'll stop getting it." Goten responded snidely. He had grown up very close to Gohan since their father had not been around for the younger years of his life. As such he had always looked more to Gohan for a role model in everything he did. Gohan had been the person he had trained with when he was young, he had been the person who helped Goten pass high school, he had been the first person to know about Goten's feelings for Trunks. Gohan was the closest thing he had to a real father figure, as such Goten was determined to protect him regardless of who he was protecting Gohan from.

"I…" Bulla stammered, the fire leaving her eyes as she took a few steps backwards. "I really messed up didn't i?"

"Well, I think so, but I don't think Gohan feels the same." Goten responded his tone changing to a much softer one.

"How do I fix this?" Bulla asked desperately. "I know he said just to come to him, but that won't be enough, I know it. How do I fix myself? How do I change?"

"You know…." Goten started.

"If I were you I would talk to the person he spent the last three months training with." Trunks interrupted, answering her question in a cold tone.

"But…That…" Bulla started, a look of reluctant acceptance covering her face. "That would be dad."

"Yep." Goten responded nodding.

"He's probably still awake." Trunks offered.

"Does he ever sleep?" Bulla growled.

"Not on nights that feel like this." Trunks replied softly. Trunks turned to Goten and gave him a gentle smile. "Let's go."

Bulla stood outside of the familiar door. Her father was on the other side, she could feel it. She had not spent any time alone with her father in almost a year, since he had kicked her out of his house. Even when she had begun coming over they had still gone out of their way to avoid each other. Her father was still obviously upset with her but she was sure his current feelings towards her had more to do with how she had been treating Gohan over the past few months. And at this moment, they were truly alone. Yes there was a door between them, but each was aware of the others presence and there wasn't another soul in the house. Bulma was out on the lawn winding down the wedding, and these days it was usually only the two of them.

Bulla lifted her hand to knock, but hesitated, she never knew what to expect with her father. How would he respond to her coming to him with guy problems? But then who else would she go to? Her mother would have no insight on this her parents had always had a seemingly perfect relationship. Before she could knock he opened the door.

"Come in." Vegeta said cocking his head to the side motioning for her to follow as he walked deep into the room.

Vegeta took residence on the desk leaning against it and facing her. Bulla closed the door behind her before following her father. She stopped a few feet in front of him and hesitantly met his gaze. Vegeta cocked an eyebrow, silently encouraging her to talk.

"Dad…I…I need advice." Bulla muttered softly.

"What kind of advice?" Vegeta responded as if he didn't already know. But he knew, and Bulla knew that he knew. Vegeta however was going to make her say it.

"Gohan advice…" Bulla muttered.

"How about don't flirt with other guys in front of your boyfriend." Vegeta offered coldly.

"Yeah I know that." Bulla growled growing irritated. "I know I was wrong, and I know he probably deserves better than me. I just need to know how to make it better, because I don't think I can ever be with anyone else."

"Do you love him?" Vegeta asked.

Bulla stared at her father, shocked that he would mention love. It wasn't really his thing, at least not when it came to things other than their mother. Bulla had never been entirely sure that her father felt love, he had always been a cold man.

"Yes." Bulla said after much contemplation.

"Then stop worrying so much. Stop thinking so hard." Vegeta responded crossing his arms. "Love isn't easy Bulla, but it also isn't common. You don't find someone you feel this way about everywhere you go. I literally found mine on a different planet. So perhaps rejoice that he was so close, and go make it right. Instead of trying to come up with a way to make it better ASK HIM. Gohan is the only one who can answer your question."

"Dad…" Bulla muttered softly.

"Get the fuck out of here." Vegeta growled pointing towards the door.

Bulla stared at her father for a second, shocked at his sudden change in demeanor. Bulla nodded dumbfounded and quickly exited his study. She had to find Gohan and fix this before it was too late. Part of her knew though that it would never be too late. Gohan wasn't going to give up on her as long as she didn't give up on herself he would be there.

Bulma entered to see Vegeta, head in his hands, seated at his desk. He looked worn down, and tired. Bulma smiled softly. He definitely was better at parenting his adult children than he had been at parenting them as actual children. Bulma walked over to him and ran her hand across his shoulders awarding her a soft groan of relaxation.

"How did it go?" Bulma asked softly, having watched her daughter leave.

"It went well." Vegeta said softly before sitting up. "Luckily I had notes to help me see into the inner mind of a twenty something Brief's woman."

"Notes?" Bulma asked softly a feeling of dread growing in her chest.

"Notes." Vegeta responded pulling out a journal.

"Is that…." Bulma muttered her face growing red.

"Your diary, from when we first met." Vegeta said.

"Hey! That's not yours to read!" Bulma growled reaching over him to grab it.

Vegeta dropped the book on the desk and quickly took advantage of her unsteady footing. Vegeta turned his chair slightly and slipped an arm around her pulling her into his lap. Bulma's face grew red with rage as she took a breath, readying herself to yell at him. But not a word escaped her, Vegeta placed his lips softly over hers, silencing any possible protest she could have. Bulma gave into the soft kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling herself closer to him. His arms tightened around her leaving no space between them. Vegeta broke the kiss and looked closely at his wife. Her eyes were clouded and his actions had obviously caused her to forget about the diary which was good for him. Vegeta really enjoyed reading about her secret obsession with him, but he was glad that he was no longer the asshole he had been at the time. The him from the past would never have been able to love anyone as much as he loved the woman in his arms.

"Shall we go to bed my queen?" Vegeta asked her softly.

"I'm not tired." Bulma muttered softly.

"Who said we were sleeping." Vegeta asked. Bulma stared at him with wide eyes before grinning and nodding. Vegeta smiled and lifted them both out of the chair before carrying her to their bedroom.

Bulla walked down the sidewalk thoughtfully. Her phone was dead so she couldn't actually call Gohan. She had stopped by his apartment but he had not been there. There was a cold fear in the pit of her stomach as her insecurities assured her that he likely went back to his ex-wife as he had the last time they had parted ways. No! She told herself. Gohan had told her he was waiting for her, there was no way that he would go to Videl if he was waiting for her. Bulla stopped as she approached her own apartment. She could feel him on the air. He was close.

"Hey." Bulla shouted as she approached her house. She could tell he was there, but she couldn't see him.

"Yo." Gohan responded from above her. Bulla looked up to the roof and saw a shadow of him on the top. Bulla groaned and pulled herself on to the roof.

"I thought I was supposed to call you when I was calm." Bulla grumbled as she sat next to him.

"I never said where I was gonna wait for you to call me." Gohan answered with a shrug and the same smile she had found so irritating earlier. But now she couldn't help but find it endearing and comforting.

"Are you okay?" Bulla muttered staring at his silhouette against the rising sun.

"It's been a year." Gohan said softly, keeping his back to her. "It's been a year since I got divorced."

"I'm sorry." Bulla said softly resisting the urge to reach for him. She wasn't sure what he needed right now, but she so longed to be it. Her own inadequacies had driven a wedge between them and left a chasm she was unsure if she would ever be able to bridge. She didn't have to resist for long though, after a moment of silence Gohan leaned his body against her. Gohan dug his shoulder against her so she shifted slightly causing his head to fall into her lap. Bulla looked down at Gohan's sad eyes.

"But…" Gohan trailed keeping his eyes locked on hers. "That also means, it's been a year since you kissed me."

Bulla blushed and attempted to look away, but Gohan didn't let her. He reached up and grabbed her face, forcing her to look at him. There was a flame that burned in his intense black eyes, shedding light she had never seen enter his eyes before. It made her feel hot, as if he were boring a hole into her.

"Gohan…" Bulla started softly.

"You have been meaner to me than anyone in my life." Gohan said softly. "And that's saying a lot because I had my ass handed to me by Frieza and your father."

"Gohan…I…" Bulla started her eyes filling with tears and her heart growing cold with regret.

"Shut up and let me talk." He growled tightening his grip on her chin. "Bulla, you have broken my heart in a way I have never known was possible. You have made me feel things I have never felt before. And it's been really hard to feel these things. You know just as well as I do that sometimes it's impossible to discern hurt from rage. And when it comes to you I feel like I'm always mad."

"Gohan…." He tightened his grip again causing her to stop talking.

"Now is the time to listen." He growled. She nodded back. "Bulla, you have hurt me more than everything in my life combined….but that's all I want. I want you, the good, the bad and the painful. I have fallen in love with you, and I don't want to let you go."

Bulla shivered, not because she was cold, but because all of the emotions welling up inside her were too much for her to handle. She should have asked for forgiveness, but she hadn't and yet he was so willing to give it to her. She had been selfish, and mean and yet he was looking past that. He wasn't giving up on her though she was sure it would be better for his mental health if he did. But since when was mental health a concern of a Saiyjin? Their power literally came from taking advantage of their explosive mood swings. The other person who would be able to handle that was someone like their mothers who had their own mood swings. Perhaps the best mate for a Saiyjin was in fact a Saiyjin. Bulla ran her fingers through Gohan's hair as he allowed his hand to drop to his side. His black eyes stared back at hers filled with emotion. She couldn't be sure if she was ready for this level of emotion, she still had so much to learn.

Gohan watched her blue eyes fill with turmoil; they grew darker with each passing second. Her eyes swirled like the depths of the ocean the conflict inside her being revealed through them. He could see that she was afraid, of what he wasn't entirely sure. But there was fear, and sadness, and joy. Gohan wondered if other eyes ever looked like this. He was sure he would never find out. Staring into her brought a sense of calm to the constant war within him. As each second of silence passed Gohan felt a familiar anxiety rising within him. The ever shifting emotions in her eyes brought him a sense of instability. Her silence left him unsure, but the feeling of her fingers against his scalp brought him back to a sense of safety.

"Gohan…" Bulla said softly breaking the silence. She felt him tense under her fingers.

"Yeah?" Gohan responded softly.

"I…I love you too." Bulla said, almost too soft to hear but Gohan heard her. Gohan smiled up at her before reaching a hand up and pulling her into a kiss.

"Hey Stop making out on the roof!" Goten shouted from the sidewalk. "Marron's honeymoon got ruined, she's in labor. Let's GOoOOOoo!"

"I thought she still had like a month left." Bulla growled standing quickly, pulling Gohan up with her.

"Yeah well baby decided they wanted to come now. They were boarding the plane and her water broke so Leif called me on their way to the hospital, we gotta go my baby's coming!" Goten shouted before taking off into the air.


	14. Chapter 14

"When does Marron come back from her honeymoon?" Gohan asked his younger brother.

"In like two days." Goten responded reluctantly as he stood up.

"What are you not excited for her to come back?" Bulla asked from her place in Gohan's arms.

"I mean not really. I love Marron and all, but I love my son too. And I love having him all to myself." Goten said with a shrug. As if on cue there was a small wail from the nursery.

Trunks was faster than Goten, and within seconds had left the room and returned with a small bundle of blonde hair. Trunks cooed at the baby causing the wails to stop, instead the little boy looked up at Trunks in amusement. Trunks rocked him softly uttering unintelligible phrases to the baby. Goten growled at him.

"Hey that's my baby." Goten joked, but he couldn't be mad. Goten was simply happy that Trunks loved the baby as much as he did. The kid was lucky to have four parent's in Goten's opinion.

"I mean possession is 9/10th of the law." Trunks pointed out. "And as you can tell Gowen is in my possession."

"Okay, that's cool and all but I wanna hold my nephew." Gohan said shoving Bulla out of his lap and holding his arms out expectantly.

"Okay that's cool, just shove your girlfriend on the ground whatever." Bulla muttered standing up from where she had landed.

"I mean, you're great and all but…baby." Gohan pointed out with a shrug.

"Yeah, I know. " Bulla muttered before taking Gowen from Trunks. "Baby!"

"Hey I wanted to hold the baby." Gohan growled.

"Too bad I was closer. Guess that's what you get for shoving me to the ground." Bulla muttered softly before she took Gowen over to the changing table.

Like the rest of the Son children Gowen looked just like his grandfather. He had however been lucky enough to forgo the crazy Saiyjin hair and was blessed with his mother's straight blonde locks instead. Gowen made noises at Bulla as she changed him. Bulla smiled at the small boy, having him around made her want children of her own. She hadn't mentioned this to Gohan but she had stopped taking her birth control ever since he had moved into her apartment two months ago when Trunks had moved back in with Goten. Financially it had been a good choice, but it had also seemed very good for their relationship. They hadn't seen a lot of Pan or Miko in the past two months, both had been working tirelessly in order to get Pan to space. Pan had called them earlier in the day and informed them that the ship was done she was just waiting for everyone to be home before leaving. The saiyjin's had enjoyed their days of peace. But unfortunately when you are a Saiyjin peace doesn't last.

Gohan's phone let out a shrill ring, as he picked up the unfamiliar number time began to slow.

"Hello?" Gohan asked, smiling as he watched the woman of his dreams changing his nephew. Seeing her like this made him long for the children he was sure they would have one day.

"Hello, I am calling for Son Gohan?" The person on the other side said.

"This is him." Gohan responded softly. "How can I help you?"

"It's your mother…" Time froze for Gohan, and for everyone around him. They didn't have to hear what the stranger on the other side of the phone was saying, the drastic change in Gohan's energy pulled all of their attention to him. Gohan barely listened as the other explained to him what was going on. The three saiyjin's watched for some kind of hint as to what was going on.

"Okay." Gohan said softly. "I'll be there as soon as I can. Thank you."

"Gohan?" Bulla asked softly as she held the baby in her arms.

"Bulla go take Gowen to 18 and then meet us at the hospital." Gohan said before turning to the other two. "Goten… it's mom…we need to go."

Cancer, such a human thing to die from. Such a human thing to take down such a strong woman. He was sure this wouldn't have come as a surprise if he had been spending time with his mother. If he had gone to see her he would have noticed her decline in health. Seen her growing weaker and wearing thin. After the initial shock of everything Gohan had a chance to sit with his mother's doctor. She had denied treatment, three years ago. She had kept this secret for three years. Or at least secret from him and Goten. Had their father known? If they had known, surely they could have saved her. Surely Bulma could have thought something up. But it was obvious she hadn't wanted to be saved. Her doctor had informed him of her do not resuscitate order. So when she went, she was gone.

The four half-saiyjins sat at her bedside, trying to converse with her. They knew deep down that her time was near, so they attempted to make the most of what was left. Goten told her his plans for his wedding, he spoke to her as if she would be there to see it. Telling her about the outfit she would never wear, about the grandson she would never get to see grow up. Goten held his mother's hand and gave her visions of a future she would have loved to see. This was not something the dragon balls could have undone. Even if there was a way to save her, all of them knew that it was not what she would want. The feeling hung in the air that, while painful, it was right.

"I'm leaving." Goten stood suddenly, releasing his mother's hand and pulling Trunks by the shirt and pulling him towards the door.

"What the hell man." Trunks protested at Goten's sudden roughness.

"Goten!" Gohan protested.

"I'll come back." Goten said softly. "Just not while he's here."

This received him a confused look from all. This was remedied as soon as Goten opened the door to the hospital room. As if on cue Goku walked in. The room tensed, Goten shoved past him bringing Trunks with him. Bulla and Gohan stared at the large man. He had been unfazed by the other two, and he seemed to not notice them on the corner. His eyes were focused on Chi-Chi.

"Chi-Chi." Goku said softly, walking towards the bed.

"Goku." She smiled back to him, she turned her gaze to Gohan who nodded and led Bulla out of the room, giving them privacy.

Goku took her hand between his shaking hands. He held it softly as he stared down at her. She was dying, and he hadn't known. He hadn't been paying attention. She had still tried so hard for them even while her body was killing her.

"No." Goku said softly holding her hand tightly. "I am a terrible person, you deserved a better husband."

"No." Chi-Chi weakly shook her head. "You were exactly what I needed."

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry for all the damage I have done in your life." He whispered.

"No, you made it fun to live." Chi-Chi laughed.

"I hurt so many people." Goku muttered.

"Goku…" She said softly her tone suddenly changing.

"What?" He asked desperately. He feared what she was going to say because her tone said it all.

"Go get my boys. I want to see them." Chi-Chi muttered softly. "I wanna see you guys…I want that to be the last thing I see before I move on."

"Then don't go." Goku begged.

"It's my time love." Her voice grew weaker by the sentence.

Something must have gave it away in the air for Gohan and Goten both rushed in at the same time. Chi-Chi shifted her attention to her sons, Goku still holding her hand. Her smile was bright, but apologetic. She would have loved to have given them more time, but it was time that she rested. Years of raising her sons and taking care of her husband. Now it was her time to be taken care of. Her eyes sank closed as monitors started to sound. The staff filed in, two nurses and a doctor. The nurses turned off the machines and covered her with a blanket.

"She signed a DNR I'm really sorry." The doctor said softly.

"Mom." Gohan sobbed.

"No." Goten muttered angrily. "No!"

Goku stood silently, unable to process what had happened. He wanted to cry, he wanted to scream and he wanted to beg. But none of that was going to get him anywhere, he didn't know where to go from here. He wanted to hide far away. But whenever he hid he always went to Chi-Chi, he didn't have that anymore. He had nowhere, and no one to run to. He couldn't escape or prevent this death. He would have been able to had she told him sooner. Surely Bulma would have found a way to save her. Goku's body shook as he listened to the broken sobs of both of his sons. They were loud, enveloping him soon he realized that he was sobbing uncontrollably as well. Falling to his knees at her side, he broke. Tears rolled uncontrollably down his face as he cried her name, begging her to come back, promising to be better, asking Dende to trade his life for hers.

Gohan had never seen his father look like this before. He was crying, begging, hardly breathing. His sobs practically shook the room causing the other two to go silent and just watch their father at his weakest. Suddenly they felt like intruders and slid out of the room to give their father the privacy he needed to grieve.

"Gohan?" Bulma asked softly as they left the room. He shook his head and grief dawned on the faces of everyone, even Vegeta.

"No." Bulla shook her head in denial.

"Please…." Gohan said softly looking at her desperately. "Call Videl and Pan."

Bulla nodded. She didn't like the idea, but she also knew that Gohan would not be able to tell them, and they needed to know. The two Son boys didn't seem to be in the mood for company, they left quickly without doing any more talking. They left together, but split part of the way to head to their separate homes to be alone.

"Are you still mad at me for taking the baby?" Bulla asked softly.

"That's not even something that matters right now Bulla." Gohan said, but he couldn't help but let a small smile escape. She was trying to cheer him up. Even though he wasn't going to cheer up he still appreciated her attempt.

"Is there anything I can do?" Bulla asked slowly approaching him.

"Stop talking." Gohan growled. Bulla was taken aback she stopped in place and nodded.

"Come lay down with me for a while." Gohan reached out to her, taking her hand he pulled her close.

They both laid on the bed facing each other. Bulla felt Gohan's arms wrap around her, he pulled her close his arms a constant pressure on her as if he was trying to pull her even closer but they were already as close as possible. She was sure an embrace like this would have hurt a weaker being. There was a sense of desperation in the embrace. She felt a round of silent sobs quake through him. He was crying.

Bulla in turn wrapped her arms around Gohan's waist providing a protective barrier against the rest of the world. Or that was how it felt to Gohan, he was weak barely holding himself together there was no way he could defend himself from anything right now, but she could and her embrace proved she would.

"Are you mad at me still?" Kakarot asked Vegeta softly.

"I hate you more than I have ever hated anything in my life." Vegeta responded coldly.

"Did you tell Bulma?" He asked averting his eyes.

"It's not my secret to tell. That's up to Trunks." Vegeta stood and stared out the window he had climbed in. He didn't know how to handle the weak mess Kakarot was at this moment.

"Vegeta…." Kakarot said, his voice cracking.

"What?" Vegeta asked tensely.

"Can I just…lay in your lap?" He asked.

"You really are a fucking animal aren't you?" Vegeta glowered.

Vegeta hated Kakarot, but he probably hated himself more. Vegeta hated himself for not protecting his son, he hated that he had not been able to stop it, he hated that he lacked the courage to punish Kakarot for his sins, and he hated that he lacked the self-control to say no to the temptation that was in front of his face. Vegeta knew he should say no, but looking at the younger man he could not find it in himself to deny Kakarot this small comfort. Vegeta walked back over to the bed Kakarot had shared with his wife and allowed the other to curl up against him. Vegeta instinctively wrapped his arms around the other, the same as he would Bulma when she cried. Vegeta held his friend close allowing him to fall to pieces. It was ok as long as someone was there to hold the pieces together.

"You really wanna marry me huh?" Trunks asked softly as he slipped in to bed next to Goten.

"Yeah." Goten said softly attempting to smile.

"Hey." Trunks muttered, pulling Goten into his arms. "It's all right to cry."

"I'm always crying though." Goten protested burying his face in Trunks chest as the tears fell from his eyes.

"You look really cute when you do it too." Trunks said softly, kissing the others unruly black hair.

"mmm." Goten grumbled as he curled closer to Trunks. His mother had raised him, she had been the one to teach him how to fight. She had been the first person to see him go super Saiyjin. She had been the person most concerned about his happiness and his future. He had been her world, and now she was gone. He didn't know how he was gonna handle that. He was sad that they had not spoken more before this happened. He was mad that she had kept it from all of them, for years. Goten was a mess, but Trunks soft fingers attempted to soothe him as they ran along his scalp. Goten shivered and fell victim to the feeling, allowing everything but Trunks to fade away, allowing the pain to subside if only for a moment.

It was a bleak day, it would have been better had it rained. The sun was shining, but none of them felt it's warmth. It was almost as if the world hadn't gotten the memo. Today was a day of pain. This was the pain of loving a human, they were weak, they were fragile, and they didn't last. But all of them had loved her, she had been part of their childhoods, their lives. Bulla leaned against her brother as the priest spoke about Chi-Chi's life. Growing up on fire mountain, training so that she could meet the love of her life and win his heart. Getting married, raising a family, taking care of her friends and her grandchild. Chi-Chi had been a good person, she had been kind and accepting. She loved with a passion just as she did with everything else in her life.

The funeral was quick, nobody wanted it to last, they were all hurting and they didn't need to be around each other in order to say goodbye, but social construct dictated they do so. None of the Saiyjins ate any of the food provided at the memorial lunch. They all seemed to float aimlessly until they were all that remained. However, not only was today the day they said their final goodbyes to Chi-Chi, but today was also the day pan left.

"Be safe." Gohan said softly to his daughter before he left her side so that she could depart.

"Of course." She smiled brightly, but just like everyone else it was only a mask for the despair she was feeling.

"So you still work here then?" Pan asked as the intern approached her ship after the rest said their goodbyes.

"Yeah surprisingly they didn't axe me as soon as we finished the ship like I expected them to." Miko smiled.

"Damn shame." Pan muttered playfully as she started into her ship.

"What does that mean?" Miko asked with waving his fist in her face. "I will have you know I am an asset to the company!"

"Yeah yeah if you say so." Pan said waving at him as they both entered her ship. It had a lot more room than they had originally planned, that had been a Bulma insert.

"So you all ready to go into space then?" Miko asked looking around her cockpit.

"Yep." She said cheerily as she began to pack things away. "Know how to pilot one of these things?"

"Well, of course capsule corps made the software." He scoffed. "Literally two weeks ago."

"Cool." Pan grinned. "I needed a side kick."

"What?" Miko asked taken aback.

"Hey Guys!" She shouted. "I'm taking the intern with me."

"Wait you're what!" He shouted as she closed the door.

"Come on kid lets go on a space adventure." Pan laughed before locking the doors and lifting off the ground.

"This definitely was not in the job description." He grumbled backing down.

"There is no job description for life intern." Pan laughed as they set out.

"Fuck me." He groaned slamming his head against the back of his seat.

"Trust me my boyfriend is much scarier than Bulla's." Pan chuckled.

"I honestly don't believe you." Miko chuckled.

"Oh I promise when we are done here that attitude is gonna be different." Pan declared.

"I sure hope so." Miko said resigning to his fate.


	15. Chapter 15

Epilogue: Day In White.

"I wish mom could see you." Gohan said softly as he looked down upon his little brother.

"She would be yelling at me and probably telling me to straighten some part of my outfit." Goten laughed sadly.

"She would be right though, you missed a button." Gohan pointed at the front of his brother's jacket.

Goten quickly unbuttoned the white overcoat, cursing about the inconvenience. He was stressed, Gohan could tell, but Gohan didn't blame him. Marriage was a huge deal and today Goten would be getting married. Goten looked up at his brother anxiously.

"I don't know if I can do this." Goten muttered softly. "I don't know if I'm ready."

"Dude you have literally been waiting for this day since middle school." Gohan joked softly elbowing his brother. "You can do this."

"I just feel too nervous." Goten muttered softly.

"I bet Trunks is freaking out just as much as you are." Gohan said softly. "It's normal."

"Were you this nervous when you married Videl?" Goten asked softly.

"No…" Gohan said softly. "I guess that probably should have been the first sign that we weren't gonna last."

"Are you nervous to ask Bulla?" Goten prodded.

"Hey…none of that. Today is about you. So shut up and go get married."

"I don't know…" Trunks muttered to his sister. "I'm freaking out."

"Oh come on, you're fine. This is Goten we are talking about." Bulla straightened her brother's tie before reaching up to smooth his hair.

"Yeah but, what if he changes his mind? He deserves better than me." Trunks grumbled as he repetitively clenched and unclenched his hands, his anxiety showing in his actions.

"See that's the thing about these guys." Bulla said cautiously. "They like us even though we are crazy so you gotta catch them while you can."

A nervous chuckle escaped Trunks as he began to bite his nails. Bulla grabbed his hand and pulled her older brother into a tight hug. This seemed to calm him momentarily, but his arms were shaking as he hugged her back. This was the biggest day of his life and he was terrified. He knew Goten would be there waiting for him but his fear was that he would fail as a husband. He wanted to be a good husband, like his father had been to his mother. But he was afraid he would turn out to be more like Goku.

"Does that mean you're gonna catch the other one before he loses interest?" Trunks asked raising an eyebrow at his sister.

"Hey today is about you not me." Bulla growled avoiding the question. She didn't answer him though mainly because she didn't have an answer, at this point she was simply waiting for him to ask.

"I'm scared Bulla." Trunks said softly as he ran his hands down the front of his jet black suit.

"Scared, or nervous?" Bulla asked as she grabbed her brothers hands to keep him from wrinkling the suit with his anxiety.

"Nervous." Trunks said before taking a shallow breath. "And scared."

"You'll be fine." Bulla said softly. "It's normal to feel like this, I bet that Goten is just as nervous as you are."

"Shit, you're probably right." Trunks muttered before he smiled down at his younger sister. "Hey, thanks for being here for me."

"Anytime." Bulla smiled before wrapping her arm in his. "But not really cuz I don't think I would be okay with you having another wedding."

"That's ok." Trunks said softly. "I don't plan on having another wedding."

It had been a beautiful day, the party was set up along a lake, and unlike many of Bulma's previous gatherings this one was small consisting of only family and close friends. Marron had accompanied the Gowen down the aisle as he threw flowers and stopped every few feet to explain to her that his dads were getting married today. Gowen was followed by Trunks and Bulla who waited at the altar for Goten and Gohan. Gohan and Goten appeared and all eyes were on them. But Goten's eyes were planted directly on Trunks. Once their gaze's met the nerves faded and they were both happy and filled with love. Gohan had to steady Goten to keep him from running down the aisle to meet Trunks. They made their slow procession and when finally they reached the altar Goten was all too ready for Gohan to give him away.

They exchanged sweet vows that they had no doubt both waited until the last minute to write, and the kiss was perfect. Everyone cheered, weddings were a happy thing. Looking out on the crowd Bulla couldn't help but notice that the scene had brought her father to tears. Bulla met his gaze and smiled at her father as tears of her own escaped. Everyone was caught in the moment. Except for Trunks and Goten who seemed to be in a hurry to get done with the wedding and get to the Honeymoon.

"I don't think I want a real wedding." Bulla muttered as she sat next to Gohan. The wedding had begun to wind down. They had finished pictures and cake cutting and now all that was left was to eat, dance, and bid the newlyweds farewell. "Way too much work."

"Too much work for your mom to do?" Gohan asked rewarding him an elbow in the side.

Gohan smiled softly and took her hand in his. He had not gotten a chance to speak to her at all today, she had been busy helping Trunks and he Goten. They had both been far too busy for each other. It was okay though today wasn't their day, today belonged to their beloved brothers. It was their turn to be happy and both Gohan and Bulla had been more than willing to assist.

Gohan squeezed her hand. His eyes had been on her the entire wedding though. From the moment he saw the Briefs standing at the end of the aisle waiting for Goten, Gohan had been locked on her. She looked stunning in her ice blue dress but he swore to himself someday soon he would see her in a white one.

"I guess we will just have to elope then." Gohan muttered as he leaned over to kiss her cheek.

It hadn't been hard for him to observe the outside wedding from afar, he had just found a tree to perch in and watched. They had both told him, but deep down he knew he didn't need to be there. It was only customary to invite the family, but an invitation did not always mean one was welcome. Chi-Chi would have loved to be there, of this he was certain. Nothing would have made her happier than to see her youngest child get married. 5 years, she had missed it by 5 years. In reality that was not a lot of time, but the days had seemed to creep on painfully slow since he watched them lower her into the ground. He was past trying to survive at this point, no instead he pushed himself each day to the point where he thought he was going to die, and then he awoke painfully saddened that he hadn't gone. He could feel it today though. This was the only thing that had been keeping him, now he could go tell Chi-Chi about the wedding, and she would be so happy. Goku rose out of the tree and departed, never to look back and never to return.


End file.
